The First Son of Artemis Book Four: The Lost Hero
by domgk115
Summary: (Book 4, in Son of Artemis series) Even before the random blonde kid showed up on the bus, Jay was having a rough day. His best-friend Percy Jackson was missing. He keeps hearing dead voices in his head. He's conflicted about feelings for someone new. All the while the gods have gone silent, and the earth itself is stirring. Will Jay be able to save his friends? Both new and old?
1. Jay I

**The First Son of Artemis: The Lost Hero**

**Jay, Son of Artemis**

Even before the random blonde-haired kid showed up on the bus, it was already a rough day for Jay. Any other half-blood would have been easily fooled by the trick with the mist, however he was a son of Artemis and it would take more to throw off his senses. He looked up towards Hedge at the front of the bus, and when the old goat met his gaze, he simply nodded in the direction of the new kid. He put his hand up, letting the old Satyr know that he would handle the situation.

He had been searching for Percy night and day for three days now out west, he had gotten little sleep. He had searched almost the entire state of Arizona. He was originally going to move onto San Francisco to search, the idea he had was that a rouge Titan that was left after the war had kidnapped Percy and brought him west. Mt. Othrys had crumbled after they beat Kronos, but he thought that maybe he had brought him somewhere else out west. He was about to move on, when he got the message from Annabeth.

She had been a wreck since Percy went missing. So, when she called him and demanded that he and Hedge wait for her at the Grand Canyon, he wasn't going to argue.

He had been at the school for almost a month now. It was about a week until Christmas, and he had been settling in nicely. In the months following the war and victory against Kronos Jay had been having a… difficult time readjusting. The nightmares, day terrors and voices in his head had not stopped since the battle for Olympus was over. So, after a few months of mental fatigue and torture, Annabeth, he, Percy, his sister Alex, and Grover had been at the school he used to attend in New York, watching his… friend? To be honest he didn't know the word to describe what Nikki was to him but that besides the point. They were watching her basketball game at her school when Grover gave him the idea.

He told Jay how Gleeson Hedge was currently on assignment at the Wilderness School with two demi-gods he had to rescue. He didn't dare tell the old goat, but the council of cloven elders had told Grover how they were… well worried about the old goat's ability to get two half-bloods back to camp safely. After seeing meeting the coach himself he knew those reports were wrong. However, the council of elders was still worried and asked Grover to assign another Satyr to help Hedge. Grover, Annabeth, Percy, Alex, and Nikki all approached him in an intervention style meeting- which he was not thrilled about- and explained their plan to him. Grover would tell the council that Jay himself was willing to go help Hedge, and Jay could go on what Annabeth called a 'relaxing wilderness retreat.', he could clear his head, get some combat training in, and help two demi-gods.

Jay had said yes just to get them off his back. However, Annabeth's idea of a 'relaxing wilderness retreat' was apparently running miles upon miles on a red track while Hedge blew his whistle at him.

Then three days ago Annabeth had called him and told him about Percy. He flew out on Agatha, his falcon that moment to look. He had come up with nothing for three days. His 'relaxing wilderness retreat' had turned into a rescue mission, one that Jay was determined to succeed in. The idea of his best-friend being kidnapped or missing, knowing the types of people and monsters in the world, a lot of pretty bad things would have killed to take Percy Jackson hostage, worried him to no end. When he got the call from Annabeth saying for him and Hedge to meet her at the Grand Canyon, with how distraught she was, he wasn't about to say no.

He had lost too much already. He would NOT lose Percy too.

He had right away introduced himself to Piper and Leo right when he got there about a month ago and became friends with them, he didn't tell them anything about half-bloods and demi-gods yet, he wanted to wait for Annabeth now. Also, he knew that once a demi-god knew of their parentage, their scent intensified. Hedge and he could take down almost anything, but Jay didn't want the two of them in too much danger. The trip to the Grand Canyon, was where he was supposed to be meeting Annabeth, but now a random kid was sitting next to Piper holding her hand. Whoever this kid was, he had some serious Mist skills, because Piper and Leo were treating him like he belonged there.

"Jason? Are you okay?" Piper asked the boy.

Jay pegged Piper as a daughter of Aphrodite as soon as he met her. It was an assumption of course; however, he was normally correct about these things. Other than the fact she was incredibly beautiful, with her choppy dark brown hair, and kaleidoscope eyes, he had recognized the power she emanated. He sensed it before in the other children of Aphrodite back at camp. She was wearing faded jeans and a blue ski-jacket, no makeup, like she was really trying not to draw attention to herself. Jay had taken to her right-away, and in the few weeks he'd been there… he thought that she'd even began to have a bit of a crush on him. That was another reason he worried; she was holding this kid's hand as if he was her boyfriend. Jay had enough of a screwed-up love-life, to know how bad it hurt. This boy or whoever put him there, probably had inserted fake memories of a happy relationship into Piper's head and that terrified him. He was NOT about to let Piper be hurt, either way by this kid.

_"Jason?" _He thought. Oh great, Jay was going to have a great time with this one. Jason was his name, despite the fact he preferred Jay all the time.

The kid blinked a mile a minute and looked completely lost. "I… I don't, what-."

He was cut of by Hedge from the front of the bus. "Alright cupcakes! We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partners, and don't lose your worksheets! If you do, I'll personally send you back to campus the hard way!" He bellowed out, picking up his baseball bat.

He swung it around, like he was going to hit one of the other students. Jay couldn't help, but sigh and roll his eyes, Hedge had some serious work to do when he was blending in.

Jason still looked confused and looked over at Piper next to him. "Can he… talk to us like that?"

Part of Jay wanted to get Piper away from the kid, pull out his bow and demand to know what he was doing here. However, he stayed his hand after he saw the obviously confused look on the boy's face. He was still hesitant, but he wasn't going to turn the poor kid into a pincushion, not yet anyway. He couldn't get over the one fact. Nobody just up and appears out of nowhere. Nobody up and appears and has everyone around him thinking that he's been there before. He either had some serious Mist powers, or he was placed here by someone, someone powerful. If that was the case… he might have had an even more serious situation on his hands, then he thought.

Piper rolled her eyes and looked back up to the kid. "Always does, this is the Wilderness School. Where the kids, are the animals." She said with a smile.

She looked back up at Jason like they'd shared that joke a hundred times. Jay remembered that Piper HAD made that joke before with him and Leo. However, Jason didn't exactly seem amused, just even more confused then he was before. He locked eyes with Jay for a second, and he seemed to panic.

He knew, that Jay knew he wasn't supposed to be there. And that seemed to scare him.

"There's some kind of mistake, I… I'm not supposed to be here. I… I don't belong here." He said, letting go of Piper's hand.

Jay was about to say something to try and calm the poor kid down, but Leo beat him to it. He laughed and looked at Jason with a wicked grin.

He also knew that Leo was a son of Hephaestus as soon as he saw him make a helicopter out of pipe-cleaners and rubber bands.

"Oh yeah totally. None of us belong here! I didn't run away from the orphanage all those times. Jay over here didn't get kicked out of seven different schools. Piper didn't steal a BMW-."

"I didn't steal that car Leo!" Piper hissed.

Leo chuckled. "Oh yeah sorry you 'politely asked' them to have it and they gave it to you."

When Jay heard that story, he knew it was charmspeak. He had experience dealing with daughters of Aphrodite that could charmspeak. Drew back at camp tried to use it on him almost every-day after she learned that he was single. It had never worked on him, he didn't know why, probably because his love life was more messed up then any sappy teen romance novel on the planet. Or maybe it's because he was just smarter than everyone.

Piper turned to him. "Jay, your sister is a medical student. Do you think somethings wrong with him? Maybe he has amnesia or something?"

When Jay was on video chat with his sister Alex back in Brooklyn, Piper and Leo may have walked in and she may have lied and told them she was a medical student at NYU. His sister in reality was an Egyptian magician, descended from Ramses the Great Pharaoh of Egypt. She was also younger than him, so how Piper and Leo believed her was beyond him. She can be very persuasive his little sister, especially with her magic.

Jay took on longer look at Jason, trying to determine how he got here, and what he wanted. However, he saw the look of complete confusion and worry on the kids face.

He shook his head at Piper. "Don't worry Pipes, he probably just bumped his head a little too hard. I'm sure it'll come back, I'll call Alex later or-."

"Or Annabeth." Leo said wiggling his little elfish eyebrows.

Piper giggled, and he sighed, rolling his eyes. One night after he had come back to his dorm room after searching for Percy. He had a video call with Annabeth back at camp to give her the bad news that he hadn't found him and trying to console her the best he could. In the middle of their conversation, Piper and Leo walked in, they had a serious not knocking problem. Thinking on his feet, which had ended up being a seriously bad idea, he clicked end on the video chat and stammered out that Annabeth was his girlfriend from back in New York. He realized as soon as the words left his mouth that Annabeth would kill him for what he said, especially with how she'd been lately, but it was too late to go back on it now.

The fact Piper was giggling also worried him. When he had idiotically blurted out, he had a girlfriend, he remembered the disheveled look on her face. It made him worry even more than he already was if it was somehow possible. Had this kid erased and manipulated Piper's emotions with the mist? Only gods had that kind of power. The more he deduced from the situation the more he didn't like it.

If this kid had somehow made himself show up, and implanted some fake memories into Piper's head, it was a serious problem. He hadn't even seen that level of skill with the mist from the children of Hecate back at camp.

Jay sighed and eyed the both of them, "Yes, or Annabeth, I'll call one of them and see what's up. No need to worry." He said in a relaxing tone, letting his eyes meet Jason's.

When Jason met his eyes, he still looked absolutely confused. Jay was starting to feel bad for the kid. If he really had been put there by someone, he was just a pawn in a much bigger game. However, Jay couldn't rule of the possibility of the kid being a threat. He would let the kid hold Piper's hand and come with them, but he would be sure keeping an eye on him. They currently had bigger problems.

There was a monster that had infiltrated the class, both Jay and Hedge knew it. It was just a matter of figuring out which one. He cautiously scanned his eyes in the front of the bus but couldn't make it out. He was pulled back by Leo speaking up again.

"Anyway, I hope one of you have your worksheet, because I used mine for spit wads ages ago…why are you looking at me like that? Did someone draw on my face again?" He asked Jason, feeling his face.

"I don't know you." Jason said worriedly.

Leo gave him a crocodile grin. Jay rolled his eyes and smiled; Leo looked like a Latino Santa's elf. His long nimble fingers tapped against the seat of the bus, and his fiddled with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket.

"Sureee me and Jay aren't your best-friends, we're their evil clones!" He said dramatically.

Jay loved being a son of Artemis. A part of his powers were his heightened senses, which allowed him to have basically the nose of a Satyr, and the perception of a falcon. He wasn't fooled by mist tricks, or monsters disguising themselves as humans. When he was younger, he used to need to be under the moon or in the forest in order for his powers to have any effect. However, after finally mastering them over the years they were available to help him now. He said a silent thank you to his mom, if he had been fooled by this trick of the mist things would have been all the harder for Annabeth and Hedge.

"Leo Valdez, problem back there!?" The coach yelled from the front of the bus.

He must have let his curiosity get the better of him and was checking on them. Leo turned and winked at them.

"Watch this!" He said excitedly.

Jay internally sighed and laughed at the same time. He was curious to see what Leo had planned for the old goat this time, although he thought nothing would beat the time that he had set the coach's pants on fire.

"Sorry coach, I can't really hear you, maybe you could use your megaphone?" Leo shouted back to the front.

Hedge grumbled and reached for his bullhorn, seeming to actually be happy that he'd get the chance to use it. He held it up to his mouth and continued to give instructions… but his voice came out sounding like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up; the coach tried again but this time the megaphone blared 'the cow says moo'. The kids howled, and the coach slammed his megaphone on the ground.

"Valdez!" The coach yelled, as Jay tried to contain his laughter.

Piper stifled a laugh, "Haha, my god Leo how did you do that?"

Leo twirled a Philip's head screwdriver in his hands and slipped it into his pocket, "What can I say? I'm a special boy."

"Haha that you are." Jay told him, finally letting out a laugh. He hadn't done that much in the last few months, it made him appreciate Leo all the more.

After their laughing died down, Jay carefully watched how Jason was still eyeing them, looking at him in particular now. Jay didn't want to meet his eyes he didn't want to let on how much he knew now.

"Guys seriously, what am I doing here? Where are we going?" Jason pleaded.

Piper knit her eyebrows. "Jason, are you serious?"

"No! I really have no idea-."

"He has to be joking, right Jay?" Leo told him. "He's probably trying to get us back for that whole Jell-O and shaving cream thing, isn't he?"

Jay racked his brain and he could not remember what Leo was talking about. However, he decided to play along with the joke.

"Ha, that was a good one. Come on Jason, you seriously don't remember _anything?"_ Jay asked. He put emphasis on the word 'anything', so the kid knew it had more meaning.

Jason stared blankly at them.

"No, I think he's serious." Piper said, trying to take the kids hand.

Jason pulled it away, causing a pained look to appear on Piper's face. Jay had the strange urge to punch the kid after that one.

"No," He stammered, "I'm sorry I don't-I can't-."

"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front of the bus. "The back row just volunteered for lunchroom duty this week!"

The whole bus cheered, and Jay rolled his eyes. The Satyr would really need a lesson on his mortal world etiquette soon.

"That's a shocker…" Leo muttered.

Jay eyed Piper who looked at Jason and she didn't seem to know whether to be hurt or worried. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

Jason shook his head. "Worse, I don't know who _I _am."

Jay felt a cold tingle run up his spine. His senses were going a mile a minute. He had been in more life-threatening and dangerous quests then most demi-gods and he learned one thing over those years. That was to always trust his instincts.

His instincts now were telling him that he had an even more serious situation on his hands then he thought.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The bus had dropped them off in what Jay could only describe as the National Museum of Nowhere. A big red stucco complex that ha da large skywalk leading out to the Grand Canyon. It was cold as was to be expected in December. Jay was wearing a white and blue windbreaker with comfy, warm black sweatpants over his orange camp half-blood t-shirt. He decided it would be important to wear so Annabeth and her ride would be able to spot him if they had a hard time. Jason was looking at himself like he was really trying hard to remember dressing himself that morning. He was tall probably around the same age as Jay, with short blonde hair, icy blue eyes and a small scar right above his lip. He wore jeans, sneakers and a thin black windbreaker over a purple t-shirt. Jay tried his best to read what the shirt said but had no such luck. He was dyslexic and the letters flew off the shirt.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said in a helpful tone. "Jay and Leo's Wilderness school crash course, care to start off Silver man?"

Jay rolled his eyes but decided to play along with Leo's game. "Alright well it's really quite simple. We go to the 'Wilderness School'" I said with Leo adding sit quotes. "Which means were 'bad kids' Your family, or the court, who _whoever sent you,_ decided you were too much trouble." He told the kid, trying to send another veiled message to the kid.

Jason seemed to receive the message because that caused him to gulp.

"So, they shipped you off to this lovely prison-sorry, 'boarding school'- in Armpit Nevada, where you learn valuable skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daises into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with his baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?" Leo finished for him.

"No" Jason said glancing apprehensively at him.

Jay internally sighed, he was getting tired of hearing 'no' from this kid. He glanced around at the class twenty guys and half as many girls who were apparently hardening criminals. He knew there were no more half-bloods in the group, but somewhere there was a monster. Jay was worried about finding himself stuck between two enemies potentially. He was one of the most powerful demi-gods in camp, probably the most powerful with Percy gone, but he had been well rusty, and hadn't been training as much as he should have the past few months.

Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out huh? Okay well me, you and Piper started here the beginning of the semester, about a month ago silver surfer over here got sentenced- I'm sorry I mean transferred." He said smirking at Jay.

Jay scoffed and managed a small laugh. Leo continued. "We're totally tight you do everything I say, do my chores and give me your desert-."

"Leo!" Piper snapped.

"Fine. Ignore that last part, but the four of us are friends. Well you and Piper here are a little but more then friends the last few weeks-."

"Leo stop it" Piper's face turned red. Jay say Jason's face heat up too, the whole entre situation still didn't sit right with him, and the more he heard the more anxious and angrier he got. If whoever placed this kid here had also given Piper fake memories made from the mist, he would be very, very angry.

"He's got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."

Leo scoffed, "Who Coach Hedge? He may try to heal Jason by mashing him over the head with a baseball bat."

Jay couldn't help but laugh. "Ha, maybe that'll work." I said shrugging.

Piper shot him a look. "I'm serious, he may have a concussion or-."

"Yo Piper!" One of the boys from the other group came over and wedged himself between Piper and Jason.

As soon as he did that, every single alarm bell in Jay's head started buzzing. It was as if the fire alarm had gone off in the fire station and now all his cells were springing into action. The kid had a dark superman style haircut, a deep tan and teeth so white they looked like they belonged on a box of Colgate plus optic white toothpaste.

It was without a doubt the monster who had snuck its way into the class.

"Don't both with these bottom feeders." The kid said looking pointedly at Jay. "You're my partner remember?"

He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey with cowboy boots and jeans. He smiled like he was god's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. Jay scanned his vast monster repertoire for any recognizable scent he could but couldn't. The look he had gotten made Jay know for a fact the monster knew he was a half-blood and one who knew. Every muscle wanted to click the silver wolf charm bracelet on his wrist which would elongate into his silver bow and turn the kid into a porcupine.

However, he needed to be sure that no more monsters were around, and what kind of monster he was up against if possible. He had learned from Annabeth that every monster had a weakness and it was best to go into a fight knowing what it was. Never rush in blind.

"Go away Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."

"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked his arm around Piper's and dragged her through the museums' entrance.

Piper looked around her shoulder and looked at Jay, it was one last look that clearly said _911._

His finger- nails dug into my palms.

_"We don't leave any demi-gods behind, one giant family."_ He heard through his head.

Jay scowled and ran his hand through his hair. Her voice was still ringing, and he knew it would for a long time. However, he was going to do what he promised.

He was going to save his friend.

He quickly reached and pulled Leo up off the ground. "I hate that guy. I'm Dylan I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! Will you date me instead?"

I shook my head and turned to the door. "Come on, both of you, we need to follow them." He said, his tone full of ice.

Leo looked at him surprised. "Oh, come on Jay, Dylan's a creep but Piper's not in-."

Jay started speed walking towards the museum.

"Man, why is everyone acting so weird today…" he heard Leo grumble behind him as he pushed open the door.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Jay didn't take his eyes off her. He barely even recognized what the museum was showing. Why did they need a museum for the grand canyon anyway? Dylan kept trying to slip his hand into Piper's, but she kept pulling it back. Leo was behind him talking to Jason more about what his 'amnesia' had wiped away from him. Coach Hedge would stop occasionally to lecture about exhibits. The coach didn't seem to notice the monster yet, but Jay didn't take his eyes off him. He was here for Piper and Leo; they were the entire reason he had come out into the middle of Armpit Nevada. He was having a perfectly good school year sitting in Brooklyn House, spending most of his time on the couch eating Cheetos and watching ESPN with Khufu the baboon.

Then after the whole incident rescuing his friend Gwen Stacey, from his cousin Nikki's basketball game from being eaten by a cyclops his friends had had their little 'chat' with him. He felt physically fine, a little strained and out of shape, but overall fine.

But was he fine mentally?

Well the ten mile runs through the cacti everyday certainly didn't help.

They made their way through the building with Hedge's microphone alternating between sounding like a Sith Lord and saying, 'the pig says oink'. Jay probably should have been more focused on the random kid that had shown up on the bus, but his focus was on getting this monster to reveal itself so he could get Piper away.

Some girls kept looking over at Piper and Dylan as well. Jay recognized Isabel and her 'Popular Girls'. Part of him though they were evil, demon, vampire, empousi when he first met them. However, he had learned he was wrong, they were something even worse, they were mean high school bullies.

Coach Hedge began going on in-front of an exhibit that talked about the Hualapai tribe that owned the museum.

Isabel snickered and said, "Hey Piper does your tribe like own this place? Do you get in for free if you like, do a rain dance?"

The other girls laughed. Even the monster Dylan had to work to suppress a smile. Piper's fist were hidden inside her snowboarding jacket, Jay knew that they were clenched inside it. Coach Hedge had told him that they had to let Piper and Leo 'fight their own battles' as he called it. He said that they needed to push them to train in any way they could before they were brought to camp that day. Jay had agreed with the old Satyr so he had restricted himself from turning Isabel and her click of mindless followers into silver pin-cushions the last month. While to his standards he was out of shape, he had done his best to help Piper and Leo condition themselves for camp. They had look at him oddly when he effortlessly scaled trees, and ran 6 miles before breaking a sweat however.

There were times when his patience was tested however, like right now. Piper and Leo may have been demigods he was going to rescue, but they were also his friends.

"My Dad is Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai, of course you would need a few brain cells to know that Isabel." She spat back.

Isabel widened her eyes in mock surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry is your _mom_ part of the tribe? Oh yeah that's right you never knew your mon."

Piper charged her, and Jay was looking forward to seeing Piper put the girl in her place. However, Coach Hedge stepped in-front and stopped it before anything could happen.

"Hey! Calm down back here, set a good example or I'll have to break out my baseball bat!" He howled at them.

Jay sighed in relief. The Satyr must have been blessed with the gift of good timing. The group shuffled to the next exhibit. The girls kept making small snide comments towards Piper.

"Is it nice to be back on the rez?" One chided.

"Her dad is probably to drunk to work," Another said. "That's why she turned klepto."

Piper ignored them, but Jay could see how much it could bother her. At that moment he finally lost it. He strode forward, fully intending on turning all those girls along with Dylan into porcupines, but Leo caught his arm.

"Woah keep it cool Jay. You know that Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be bowing down saying 'we're not worthy.' You know that."

Jay sighed, "You're right…" He said admittedly.

Jay had laughed when she learned Piper's dad was Tristan McLean, he remembered he acted in the popular 'King of Sparta' movie. As with most Hollywood movies about Ancient Greece, the mythology and facts were off. However, it had a lot of action, swords, handsome guys and girls, so it made a truck load of money. He understood what it was like having a famous father. Before he died Jay's, father was Joshua Nicholson, renowned and famous professor and author about Ancient Greece and Egypt.

He also happened to be blood of the pharaohs and a powerful Egyptian magician.

He wasn't nearly as famous as Piper's dad, but he could sort of understand where she was coming from.

"Who's her dad?" Jason asked from behind them.

Leo laughed in disbelief. "What, you're not kidding? You really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad is-."

Hearing the word 'girlfriend' made Jay wince.

"Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember _her, _much less her dad." He said.

Leo whistled. And Jay studied the kid more closely. He looked so familiar, but he couldn't place why. His face was what looked familiar, he swore he had met someone before that had a face just like his. He was really good at that. If you looked at him and his sister Alex, they had the same exact face, high cheek bones with a slender and sharp jaw, just like their shared father. They both had light brown hair, but Jay of course had the bright silver eyes he inherited from his godly mother Artemis.

"So, you really don't remember _anything _Jason, or _anyone_?" Jay asked him.

Jason shook his head, and Jay could see the look of worry on his face. He looked like he was going to say something, but Coach Hedge interrupted them.

"Alright cupcakes, you're about to see the Grand Canyon, try no to break it! The skywalk here can hold the weight of up to seventy jumbo-jets! So, you featherweights should be okay. Try to refrain from shoving each other over the edge! That would give me extra paperwork…" The coach grumbled.

All the kids started making their way out of onto the skywalk. It was a large horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass that you could see right through. He was walking past Coach Hedge when the old goat gripped his wrist. The rest of the kids filtered out and the Coach spoke to him in a low rumble.

"So, random kid shows up on the bus… do I whack him now, or later?" he said eagerly.

Jay looked out at Jason walking along with Leo. He turned to the coach and shook his head. "No, not yet. Let me get him alone and talk to him, see he's an ally… or an enemy."

The coach looked disappointed, but I had a feeling he would get to swing his club soon. "But I did find the monster though." I told him.

The Coach's head perked up right away. "Which one!? Let me at him!" He said excitedly.

Jay laughed a bit and nodded over to Dylan. "Kid in the Cowboys jersey. Let me see if this Jason kid is bad news or not, then we'll get Piper away and take him out. I'll give you a signal"

The Coach nodded eagerly, and he made his way out towards the skywalk with Leo and Jason. As soon as he walked outside, he knew something was wrong. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead, casting shadows overhead like angry faces across the cliffs. The gods must have been in a seriously bad mood. Not that he would know, since they had gone silent on camp half-blood since before, he left. The storm seriously sent major warning bells off his head, every single sense in his body was telling him he was in danger.

He came out and saw Jason looking at something in absolute awe in the palm of his hand. It was a piece of solid gold the size of a half-dollar. Jay thought at first it may be a gold drachma. However, he came over, and took a closer look at the coin in the kids' hand. It was stamped on one side with a battle-axe. On the other side was a guy with his head wrapped in laurels.

"Dang, is that gold?" Leo asked him. "You been holding out on me!"

Jason put the coin away. Jay knew it was more then just a coin. He fiddled with the wolf charm that was attached to the bracelet on his left wrist. If he pressed the charm, it would elongate into a slender, long silver bow, that all he had to do was pull the string back and arrows would materialize at will. His missing best-friend Percy had magic ballpoint pen that all he had to do was pull the cap off, and it would elongate into a sword. His old… friend, ex, love interest? He didn't know what to call her, but his close friend Nicolette Cassidy back at camp had a magic amulet shaped like the sun. If she pressed it should would become incased in full gold Greek combat armor with a matching golden Greek sword. Her father Apollo went a little overboard, but she wasn't complaining.

Jay knew a magic weapon when he saw one. That coin would turn into a deadly weapon. He now knew one thing for sure, Jason was a demigod. From the looks of the storm clouds that kept piling up around them, he had to be a powerful one.

Now it was just a matter of finding out if he was an ally, or an enemy.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Jay didn't pay attention to the worksheet. He was too busy flinching whenever thunder boomed overhead. Zeus and he weren't exactly on good terms, what with him being the first ever Greek demigod who also had the powers of Egypt running through his veins, or the fact his mother Artemis had sire him. She didn't actually 'make' him with his father per say, they just fell for each other and as soon as she did, he was born. It was complicated but he didn't like to think about it.

His mouth dropped however when he saw Leo launch a helicopter into the air made completely out of the junk he had found in his pockets. Its pipe cleaner blades spiraled and took it halfway through the canyon before it spiraled down into the void.

"How'd you do that?" Jason asked.

Leo shrugged, but Jay knew exactly how. He hadn't seen a child of Hephaestus so talented since Beckendorf, who re-programmed that metal dragon that was currently raging without him to control it.

"Would've been cooler if I had some rubber-bands." He said.

"Seriously," Jason asked, "are we all friends?" he asked casting a side-ways glance at Jay.

"Last I checked." Leo said before Jay could say anything.

"You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?" He asked desperately.

"It was…" Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD man, you can't expect me to remember details. Jay what about you, you remember don't you?"

Their eyes turned to Jay and he shrugged his shoulders deciding to play along for now. "I… can't seem to recall either. You're right Leo that ADHD is a killer." He lied.

Jason seemed to see right through his lie. He looked between Jay and Leo. "But if I don't remember either of you _at all. _I don't remember anyone here. What if-."

"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"

_Yes, that is exactly what happened. _Jay mentally slapped himself. The answer had been bobbing around in his head the entire time, but to hear Leo say it. He realized as Leo said it out loud, that it was the only logical answer. He was going to try for more information, but he saw the black reach of storm clouds starting to cover the skywalk. Something was coming, he needed to act now or never.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of rolled up dollar bills. "Hey Leo, mind going to grab me a soda from that vending machine?" I said pointing towards the museum door, and coke machine sitting outside.

Leo raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah, and what's in it for me?"

I rolled my eyes and managed a chuckle. "Get yourself one too. I'm going to see if I can do something for out amnesiac."

He handed Leo the cash and the son of Hephaestus bowed. "Be right back."

Leo walked away and for the first time he met Jason's eyes alone. Before the kid could say anything, Jay shook his head.

"Not here. Come with me." He said, getting up and dusting off his jeans.

Jason didn't protest. He looked over at Hedge who was keeping a close eye on Piper with Dylan. He was leaning on his baseball bat, ready to spring in a moment's notice. He noticed her trying to fill out her worksheet, but 'Dylan' wouldn't stop trying to hit on her. He kept putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile. Her eyes found the two of them as they walked, and to Jay's surprise and slight annoyance she looked at Jason and gave the blonde-haired kid a look that clearly said _Throttle this guy for me._

Jason motioned for her to hand on and followed Jay out onto the skywalk. When Jay finally made it out of ear shot of all the kids, another loud blast of thunder boomed. Jay could practically smell the ozone. Whatever was coming, it certainly wasn't friendly.

"Did you do this?" Jay asked, with his arms crossed.

He looked back at Jason who took a step back. "Do what?" He questioned.

Jay growled and turned back to face him; his silver eyes met the kid's icy blue ones. "Leo and Piper aren't here; you can drop the act now. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

He didn't mean to sound so forceful, but no matter if the kids was a demigod or not. He needed to make sure he wasn't dangerous.

A mixture of confusion and relief. "You mean… you _don't _know me?" He asked. "I… I haven't been going to school with you guys here?"

Jay sighed and shook his head. "Never seen you before today. I don't know what trick you or whoever pulled with the mist, but it won't fool me."

Jason let out a relieved sigh. "Look… Jay was it?"

"Jason, my real names Jason, but everyone calls me Jay."

He stammered a moment and looked at him, probably also realizing the confusions they were in for now.

"Look, Jay I really don't know how I got here. I just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here." He pleaded.

Jay sighed, he wanted to keep up the tough guy act, but he just felt so bad for the kid. However, he learned that in the crazy world of gods and monsters if you let your guard down, it got you killed.

"Look you're right about that." Jay leaned in and lowered his voice. "When I came out here a month ago, I was told Hedge only found two half-bloods. You got quite a way with the mist, you won't fool me and Hedge though. I've already identified our monster, but now that you're here… I need to know if you're a friend, or an enemy. You don't smell like a monster, you smell like a half-blood, but I know better then to assume all half-bloods are on my side. So, I'll ask again, who are you, and where do you come from?"

Jason looked baffled for a moment but managed another worried sentence.

"I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. Please, Jay you have to help me!" He pleaded.

Jay didn't want to believe him. However, he felt he could tell when people were being truthful or not. He glanced over at Piper who was still trying to stop Dylan from flirting with her and met Coach Hedge's eyes. He held up a finger to let him know only to hold another minute.

He turned back to Jason and sighed. Something about his face, he had met him, or someone related to him before, and he decided that if he could, he would try to help.

_We never turn away a demi-god in need. _

_ That's what Camp is about right? Helping demigods._

Jay shook his head to get her voice to stop and looked back to Jason.

He sighed heavily. "This complicates things but… fine. I'll help you as best I can, maybe Annabeth or someone from camp will have some answers… but I wanna make one thing clear."

He took a step closer to Jason and got practically nose to nose. "If I get _one _inclination that you're here to hurt Piper and Leo, you'll find yourself filled with arrows before you can blink. Understand?" He told him.

Jason took a step back and nodded in understanding. "I'm not here to hurt anyone, I swear! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods, are they codewords or something?"

Jay chuckled, how he wished they were just codewords. After thinking about _codewords _his head shot back up and looked at Jason.

"Are you it!? Are you the 'special package' is that it?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked back.

Jay sighed and shook his head. "No… you can't be. If Annabeth knew then she would have told me what the package was, or who it was. Look I don't know who you are kid, but I know you're a half-blood, a powerful one to boot. Piper and Leo alone send up signals to all monsters nearby, with you? Good thing I came, Hedge wouldn't have been able to fight them all off by himself." He said, to himself and Jason.

He turned to Jason again. "Look I got a message from Annabeth at camp. They're sending an extraction team today, to pick up a 'special package'. Hedge and I say fine Piper and Leo are pretty powerful, older than most-."

"What do Piper and Leo have to do with this?" He asked.

Jay laughed a little and shook his head. "Ha, they don't know anything about all of this yet. If they did every monster for miles would already be here. Annabeth doesn't get frantic easily, but now she is flying out to pick up a 'special package' then _you_ pop up."

He had known Annabeth for a long time, she was one of his best-friends. When she had frantically told him to get to the Grand Canyon so she could come pick up, Piper, Leo and a 'special package' he wasn't going to question it. He couldn't help but wonder if any of this had to do with Percy disappearing. It couldn't all be a coincidence, the gods going silent, Percy going missing, this kid arriving. It all had to be connected, there were no coincidences in demigod life.

A pained looked flashed in Jason's eyes, like he was trying so hard to remember something his veins were going to pop. He stumbled and Jay leaned over to catch him before he could fall.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there. You said you have no memories? Fine. Hedge and I will keep an eye on you too until Annabeth gets here for extraction. Our director will hopefully be able to help out back at camp." He told him.

"Who's Annabeth?" Jason asked. "What camp, what director?"

Jay shook his head. "Don't worry reinforcements will be here soon. I hope you know how to use that weapon." He told him.

"What weapon!?" He asked exasperatedly.

"The coin. It's obviously a weapon if you flip it or touch it a certain way, I have a weapon just like it. A fight's about to break out, but hopefully Annabeth and reinforcements will get here before-."

Lightning crackled overhead. The wind and thunder picked up sending worksheets flying into the Grand Canyon. Jay and Jason both stumbled, Jay grabbed the skywalk for support. He heard kids screaming, and Coach Hedge yelling into his megaphone.

"Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!" Hedge yelled.

"What's happening!? I thought this thing was stable!" Jason shouted over the wind.

Jay regained his footing and looked up. His mouth dropped, as he saw the giant black tornado of clouds starting to come down towards them.

He looked over to Jason. "Under normal circumstances I'm pretty sure," He agreed. "But these aren't. Come on, we need to get to Piper and Leo, I'd get that coin out!"

**A/N: Here we are everyone! It is finally the long awaited first Chapter of The First Son of Artemis: The Lost Hero! Here we start out the Heroes of Olympus arc with The Last Hero. A strange mysterious kid with the same name as him shows up randomly on the bus, what is Jay's reaction!? What are you guys looking forward too this book? I really wanna know! I need you guys to leave me reviews with your thoughts, ideas, and just how I can improve. I love hearing everyones opinion and guesses as to what's going to happen!**

**For those of you who are new, I humbly welcome you to my profile and my story! This will be Book 4 in my first son of artemis series. The first three books covering the Percy Jackson and the Olympians arc are on my profile and completed for you to catch up! If you don't feel like it that's fine, a lot of things will be brought up again in this story! **

**I hope you all enjoyed our first chapter! Next chapter Jay and Jason Jasonx2 fight the Venti and Dylan! What will happen, how will they mesh? What will happen when we get to camp!? Follow and leave a review, and you'll figure out! **

**See you guys next update!**


	2. Jay II

**The First Son of Artemis Book Four: The Lost Hero**

**Jay II**

The storm had churned up into a miniature hurricane. Funnel clouds of black were streaming towards the skywalk, and Jay knew they would need to get everyone off. It was only a matter of time before one of the mortal kids flew off. A worksheet flew and hit him right in his face.

_"Malaka!" _He cursed tossing the paper aside. Little things like that were starting to annoy him, a few months back his eyes would've caught onto that and he could've moved out of the way. His reflexes, and senses had dropped off considerably and it was starting to affect him more and more.

Leo had started walking back towards them, as soon as the wind picked up, he stumbled, sending the three coke cans he was carrying over the skywalk. Leo almost tumbled over, but Jason reached over and grabbed his shirt just in time.

"We have to get to Piper now!" Jay yelled to them over the storm.

"Over there!" Jason yelled pointing towards the doors.

Piper was busy holding the doors open for kids to run inside. In just her snowboarding jacket she must have been freezing. However, she kept her cool. She looked calm and confident, as she ushered kids inside and assured them it would be okay, encouraging them to keep moving.

"Come on cupcakes move! Jay!" Hedge yelled turning to Jay as he approached.

"What do we do about this one!?" He yelled pointing his baseball bat that had started to transform back into a club towards Jason.

Jason took a few steps back, but Jay shook his head. "He's friendly, we need to get to-."

Another loud crackle of thunder burst through the Grand Canyon sending rocks tumbling down into the abyss below. Jay saw Piper using all of her strength to try and keep the doors open, shoving kids inside trying not to lose her grip. Jay, Leo, Jason and Hedge all tried to move towards her, but the wind fought them for every step. Jay felt as if he was trying to walk through quicksand, but he was determined to make it to Piper, he needed to get her away from Dylan.

Piper managed to get the last kid inside, but as soon as she did a huge gust of wind blew the doors from her hands and shut it. The door slammed shut, closing off the only escape they had from the skywalk.

Piper tried to tug at the handles. Kids inside banged on the door to try and get it back open for them.

"Dylan, help me!" Piper yelled.

Dylan stood there with an idiotic grin, his cowboys jersey rippling in the wind, like he was suddenly enjoying the storm. The answer hit Jay like a sack of bricks. He was dealing with a spirit, a wind spirit. Dylan and whatever spirits were flying above were the ones causing the storm! He had never fought wind spirits before, he had no idea how to kill them. Could he stab his daggers through the wind? He had to try; it wasn't even an option.

"Sorry Piper," he said. "I'm done helping."

He flicked his wrist and Piper flew backwards, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck.

"Piper!" Jay yelled trying to run forward. He wanted to charge the monster now, but the wind held him back. Jason tried to rush forward as well, only to be held back by the coach.

"Jason was it!? You and Leo stay back, stay behind Jay and me! You ready Nicholson!?" He asked Jay.

Jay looked over at Piper who had crumpled to the ground currently rolling around in pain.

"More then ready!" He said through gritted teeth.

He knew his bow would do him no good with the windstorm around, so he pulled up his windbreaker, and pressed the center of his belt buckle. At his waist two, long silver daggers shimmered into being. Two twenty-four-inch blades, that had been with him along with his bow since he was twelve. They were made of celestial silver with black leather-bound grips. He tore off his windbreaker to reveal his camp half-blood t-shirt. The orange shirt flapped in the wind, but Jay was ready for battle.

"He's right, you two stay back! This is our fight I should've known he was our monster!" Jay yelled pulling out the two blades.

"You're right! Let's smash him to pieces!" Hedge yelled.

"What?" Leo demanded. A rouge worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. "What monster!? And god Jay what are those things!?"

The coach's cap flew off his head, revealing two bumps in his curly brown hair. The coach lifted his baseball bat up, but the illusion had finally worn off. It was a crudely shaped tree branch with leaves and twigs still attached.

A demigod and an old Satyr, Jay was sure they looked quite intimidating.

Dylan gave them a psycho smile. "Oh, come on _coach. _Let the boy attack me! After all you're getting to old for this! Isn't that why they _retired _you to this school!? Isn't this why they sent you _back-up?"_

The coach let out an angry goat noise and raised his club. Before he could talk again, Dylan turned over to Jay.

"Ah the legendary Jason Nicholson, the First Son of Artemis! The defeater of Atlas, the retriever of the golden fleece, the slayer of Koios, and Kronos! Better known as... Percy Jackson's side kick! Your fame runs before you demigod!" He said with a mocking bow.

Jay growled and leveled one of his blades. "I am NOBODY'S sidekick!"

That comment hit hard Jay had always been worried that he never really earned his accomplishments. He was always fighting alongside Percy, who somehow always seemed to save his butt.

Dylan laughed and Jay felt the wind around him start to churn even more as he did. "My mistress has great plans for you Son of Artemis! She's seen your… _decline _in the last few months, do you even remember how to use those!?"

"Get closer and find out!" Jay yelled.

Dylan laughed and shook his head. "Haha, an old Satyr and a washed-up demigod, you think the two of you can protect three half-bloods at once? Percy Jackson isn't here to save you this time Jason Nicholson!"

Dylan pointed at Leo and a funnel cloud materialized around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he had been chucked. Somehow, he managed to spin in mid-air and catch a ledge fifty feet below. Jay's eyes widened, and he looked to Hedge.

"Help," he yelled up to them. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?"

"Coach get Leo!" He shouted over the wind.

"Already on it," Hedge growled tossing his club to Jason. "I don't know who you are kid, but I hope you're good! Help Jay keep that thing busy, while I get Leo!" He ordered the new demigod.

"Get him how," Jason asked, bewildered. "Are you going to fly?"

"Not fly, climb." Coach said tossing off his fake shoes.

Coach Hedge's fury goat hooves sprang out, and Jay saw that it looked like Jason was going to have a coronary.

"You're a fawn!" Jason said.

"Satyr!" Hedge snapped. "Fawns are roman, but we'll talk about that later!"

The Coach vaulted over the railing climbing down the side of the Grand Canyon. He moved with impossible agility, finding footholds no bigger than postage stamps, dodging whirlwinds that tried to attack him on his way to Leo.

"Like he said, I hope you're good." Jay told him as he walked up next to him, the coach's club awkwardly in his hands. "We need to get Piper and Leo out of here till reinforcements get here!"

"Isn't that cute!" Dylan turned to Jason and Jay. "Now it's time to kill the both of you!"

Jay was ready to lash out and try to find an opening, but Jason made the first move. He chucked the coach's club. Jay thought it would be useless with such strong winds, but the club flew right at Dylan's face, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked him in the head.

Piper finally had gotten to her knees, not as dead, as she appeared. Her fingers closed around the club and Jay's eyes widened. The last thing he wanted was Piper to try and fight the thing with him, he didn't want to risk her getting hurt. Before she could use it however, Dylan rose. Blood-golden ichor trickled from his forehead.

Jay looked at Jason in astonishment. "Unorthodox but effective." He said with a shrug.

Jason shrugged, not seeming to know how he did it.

"Nice try, boy." He said glaring at Jason now. "But you'll have to do better than that!"

The skywalk shuddered. Below Jay's feet he could see the glass beginning to crack. Inside the museum, the kids stopped banging on the door and backed away in terror.

Jay had never seen a monster, or spirit like it. He dissolved into black smoke slowly, like his body molecules were all combusting at once. He had the same face, the same brilliant white smile. His whole form, however, was now composed of swirling black vapor, his eyes electrical sparks like they were living storm clouds. He sprouted black smoky wings and looked like a black demon angel.

"You're a ventus," Jason said. "A storm spirit!"

Jay had never heard of them before, but he supposed Annabeth would if she were here. It was the first time he had been on a quest by himself without her, Percy, Nikki, or anyone really. Nobody except Hedge, he really needed to brush up on his monster identification.

Dylan's laugh sounded like it could tear off the roof of a building.

"I'm glad I waited for you demigod," He said eyeing up Jason. "Leo, Piper, and Jay I've known about for weeks. I could've killed them anytime, but my mistress said a fourth was coming-someone special. She'll reward me greatly for your death!"

Two more funnel clouds touched the ground on either side of him and turned into more of these _venti-_ghostly young men with black wings like Dylan.

Piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, her hand still clutched around the Coach's club. Her face was pale, but she locked eyes with Jay and Jason and gave a clear message. _Keep their attention. I'll brain them from behind. _

Jay took a second to appreciate Piper, cute, smart and violent when she needed to be. She was going to make an awesome demigod. However, he needed to make sure she was alive still. She stepped on a stray worksheet and the crunch caught the attention of the _venti. _They were about to turn their heads towards her, when Jay went to charged forward.

"PIPER NO, GET OUT!" He yelled trying to run against the wind.

Dylan turned and shot his hand out towards him, and Jay saw a bolt of lightning coming towards him.

"JAY NO!" He heard Piper yell.

Jay would've been blasted, but Jason came up behind him and slammed him onto the skywalk.

_Bang_. Jason was shot back on his back, a smoking hole in his shirt, one of his shoes blew off into the skywalk.

"JASON!" He and Piper yelled at the same time.

The boy's toes were black with soot. He laid back on the ground for several seconds, Jay felt his heart fall to the pit of his stomach. He had another demigod die.

_Jay I… I don't wanna die… please Jay…. Please._

_ She was so confident you would save her if it came to that. _

_ I'm not afraid Jay, I have you to protect me. _

He shakily rose to his feet, he looked over and Piper was screaming and swinging the Coach's club trying to keep the other two ventus at bay. Dylan laughed and loomed over Jason, before turning in the direction of Jay.

"No…" He said quietly, and stood up, with both of his daggers ready.

Dylan laughed and looked at him. "Ah, now it's time for me to kill the First Son of Artemis! Nobody is hear to save you this time-."

"Stop," The voice of Jason croaked.

Jay's eyes shot over to Jason, as did all the venti and Piper. He rose unsteadily to his feet, Jay didn't know if him, the venti, or Jason himself were more surprised.

"How are you alive?" Dylan's form flickered. "That was enough lightning to kill twenty men!"

Jay ran over and helped Jason steady himself. "Dude, you took a lightning bolt to the chest, how are you alive!?" He asked completely miffed.

Jason shook his head. "I don't know but," He said looking at the storm spirits. "I think it's our turn, wouldn't you say?" He asked Jay.

A shocked realization came to Jay's mind, but he didn't want to think about it now. He nodded his head, and Jason reached into his pocket.

"It's our turn now." He said to the storm spirits.

Jason pulled the gold coin out of his pocket. He flipped it up into the air and as soon as it landed the demigod was holding a sword. A wicked sharp double-bladed weapon, that was completely golden. Blade, hilt and grip the entire weapon was made out of gold. Jay's eyes went wide, he had never seen a sword like that before. It wasn't like Riptide, Percy's sword, or Dawn the sword Nikki used. The one Jason held looked more like the sword from that old movie Gladiator that he and his father liked to watch back when it came out. It looked so… un Greek. However, at the moment, as long as its vaporized monsters, he didn't care what it looked like.

Jason locked eyes with Jay, Jay gave him an approving nod. "You saved my life I…I'm sorry I doubted you… now let's kill these things!"

"I couldn't agree more." Jason said leveling his sword.

Dylan snarled and backed up at their raised weapons. He looked to his two comrades and yelled, "Well? Kill them both!"

Jason gave Jay a quick nod, and the two of them both charged.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The other storm spirits didn't look happy at Dylan's order. They growled and flew at the two of them, their fingers cackling with electricity. Jay was ahead first, the first spirit came charging at him low towards the ground, as soon as it came, he leaped up and forwards. He spun in mid-air and slashed his blade along the creatures back. It passed through the spirit and it evaporated into golden dust. The second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning towards him, he rolled out of the way, and Jason stepped forward. The lightning absorbed into his blade, he dodged a strike and with one quick thrust the second spirit dissolved into golden power.

Dylan wailed in outrage, he looked at the ground as if expecting his friends to reform. However, the wind picked up and carried the golden particles out into the sky. "Impossible! Who are you, half-blood!?"

Jay looked at Jason and scoffed with a smile. "Ha, not bad kid. You've definitely done this before."

Jay was convinced now after seeing him fight, that this Jason wasn't a new demigod like Piper or Leo. He had to have some experience; nobody works a blade like that without training. He must be a powerful demigod who had his memories erased and placed here in the school. He had no idea why, or who did it, but he could safely assure himself now, Jason wasn't an enemy.

"Same to you." He said, panting like he had just ran a marathon.

Piper looked at the two of them, so stunned she dropped her club. "Jason, Jay, how…?"

"Everything will be okay Pipes, I promise-." Jay started.

Coach Hedge selected that moment to leap back onto the skywalk and dump Leo like a sack of flower.

"Spirits FEAR ME!" He bellowed, flexing his short arms. Then he looked around and realized there was only Dylan.

"Curse it boys!" He snapped at Jay and Jason. "Didn't you leave any for me? I like a challenge!"

Leo got to his feet, breathing hard. He looked completely humiliated, which Jay had never seen on him.

"Yo, Coach Supergoat, whatever you are- I just fell down the Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!'

Dylan hissed at them, but Jay saw the worried, fear filled look in his swirling eyes.

"You have no idea how many enemies you've awakened, half-bloods. My mistress will destroy ALL demigods. This war you _cannot _win."

Jay outstretched his arms both blades shimmering with gold powder. "That's what they said about the war against Kronos, _yet _here we are!"

Dylan hissed, above them the storm exploded into a full-force gale. Cracks started expanding on the skywalk and Jay had to grab the railing for support and balance. Sheets of rain poured down and a long swirling vortex of black and silver opened in the clouds.

"The mistress calls me back!" Dylan shouted with glee. "And you demigod are coming with me!"

He lunged towards Jason, but before Jay could intercept with his blades Piper tackled the monster from behind! Even though the monster was made of smoke, Piper made contact somehow. Both of them went sprawling. Jay charged forward, with Jason, Leo and Hedge he was in the lead, but the spirit screamed with rage. He let loose a torrent of wind that sent them all sprawling back. Jay hit the ground on his stomach while Hedge and Jason landed on their butts. Leo hit the back of his head and curled to the side, dazed and groaning. Piper got the worst of it however, she was tossed off of Dylan's back and hit the railing, tumbling over the side until she was holding on by one hand, one slip away from falling into the abyss.

"NO PIPER!" Jay yelled leaping to his feet and surging forward with Jason.

Before Jay and Jason could reach, Dylan screamed letting loose more wind that knocked them both over. "I'll settle for this one!"

He grabbed Leo's arm and began to rise, towing a half-conscious Leo below him, the storm spun fasted, pulling them upwards like a vacuum cleaner.

"Help!" Piper yelled. "Jay, somebody help!"

Jay tore his vision away from Dylan and ran towards Piper, he reached out to grab her hand, but just before he reached her, she was gone. She slipped, screaming as she fell.

"NO!" Jay yelled lunging but coming up short.

Jay saw her form rapidly falling into the abyss and the voice came into his head again.

_I'm not worried Jay, I'm with you. _

_ She was so confident you would save her. _

_ We don't leave demigods behind, no matter what._

"Jay, go!" Hedge yelled. "Save her!"

The coach launched himself at Dylan with some of the craziest goat-fu that Jay had ever seen. He lashed out with his hooves, knocking Leo free from the spirits grasp. Leo dropped to the floor, but Dylan started grappling with the coach. Hedge tried to headbutt him, then kicked him, and called him a cupcake. They soared further into the air, gaining speed.

"Save her Jay, you get her, I got this one!" He yelled down.

Jay saw Piper form falling further away. He turned to Jason, "Go help Hedge, I'm gonna go get her!" He yelled taking a few steps back.

"How!? What are you gonna-."

Jay didn't hear him finish his sentence before he jumped over the side.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Jay had leaped off of plenty of high places before. He used to love leaping off tall buildings, from tree's from atop his magical falcon Agatha. However, he hadn't done it really since the battle of Manhattan. He had ridden Agatha of course, but never tried to leap down like this. Instead of confidently diving headfirst down the abyss, he flailed his arms and felt like he was about to hurl.

He saw Piper flailing wildly and composed himself. He tucked his arms to the side and watched her as the canyon walls ran by him like a movie on fast forward. Before he knew it, he caught up with her, and tackled her waist, trying to avoid her flailing elbows.

"HANG ON!" He yelled over the wind.

Piper seemed to comply, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shirt, screaming in terror.

Jay reached out in his mind. He concentrated and then his eyes shot open.

"AGATHA!" He yelled as loud as he could.

He looked down and saw the river below getting closer and closer. The only thing in the world he was afraid of was water, Jay despite being best friends with the son of the Sea god had a very bad history with water, and it was more then the fact he couldn't swim.

He was just about to accept death with Piper, when a giant silver blur shot down past them. It soared underneath them, and he heard Piper's scream turn into a strangled gasp when she opened her eyes.

"J-J-Jay, what…" She managed.

Jay breathed a huge sigh of relief and looked down to see his guardian Agatha. She was a beautiful, huge silver falcon. She had a sleek silver, and black body, with gleaming silver feathers. Her head was also silver with a black beak and shining golden eyes. Agatha had been assigned his guardian at birth by his mother Artemis. She had introduced Agatha to him when he was twelve, she had been raised by his mother to be his guide and protector. She had saved him on plenty of occasions.

He let out a deep breath and rubbed Agatha's head. "You have the gift of good timing girl."

_"Sorry I was late I was… cleaning my feathers." _He heard her voice in his mind.

He managed a smile and turned to Piper, who was still hugged to his chest. She was breathing heavy and looked back up at him with those kaleidoscope eyes.

Her breath smelled like cinnamon. She said, "Jay what, how did you-."

He looked back at her trying for a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Pipes you're safe now. This is Agatha she's my um… falcon."

Her face was a cross between relief and utter confusion. Like she was decided whether or not to start screaming again. "You… you own a giant silver falcon? What is happening?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Don't worry, I promise I'll explain everything. Let's get back up there first, I left Jason to help Coach Hedge and Leo."

At the mention of their friend and her apparent boyfriend she shook her head like she had been in a trance. "Please… get us out of here!"

Piper laid her legs across Agatha's neck horizontally and grabbed her arms around Jay's neck for support. Jay held onto the side of Agatha's wings and looked up. The rain had stopped, the storm clouds were mostly gone, a few were rumbling up ahead, but he knew better then to assume everything was fine, the two of them heard a blast of thunder rumbled the canyon.

"Let's go, we have to go help them!" Piper said, pointing up.

Jay nodded. "I couldn't agree more. Hold on!" He said to her.

Jay steered Agatha up and the falcon shot upwards. Piper screamed from the speed and tightened her grip around Jay's neck. He smelled the scent of her cinnamon hair flood into his nose as they flew. On their way up however he spotted something, a purple blur coming down towards them. It came closer into view and Jay's mouth fell open.

"Jason!?" He yelled across the gorge.

Sure, enough the blonde-haired demigod was floating with wind circling around him. He was hovering right across from them, his purple shirt fluttering all around him. Piper lifted her head across and her eyes widened seeing Jason.

"Jason how… what-."

"I didn't know I could fly! I… I needed to make sure the two of you were okay, I leaped off and the wind just supported me!" He said, seeming as flabbergasted as Jay and Piper.

Jay shook off his confusion, he would have a heck of a report for Annabeth and Chiron later. He looked at Jason and pointed up.

"What about Leo and Hedge!?" He yelled.

Jason shook his head. "Leo's fine but, Hedge is gone, come on!" He yelled, looking upwards.

The winds swirled around him and shot the kid upwards.

"I've had enough of this day…" He heard Piper mutter as he willed Agatha back up.

Jay landed Agatha on the skywalk at the same time as Jason landed. He helped Piper off and turned to Agatha.

"Go circle around up ahead girl. Let me know if you see any monsters or storm spirits." He ordered his falcon with the stroke of his beak.

His guardian nodded and took off. He turned around and saw Piper over Leo. She turned him over and he groaned. His army coat was soaked from the rain. His curly hair glittered gold from rolling in monster dust. But Jay sighed in relief at the fact that at least he wasn't dead.

"Stupid… ugly… goat," he muttered.

"Where did he go?" Piper asked.

Jay turned to Jason for the answer, but Leo spoke up. He pointed up into the sky. "Never came down. Please tell me he didn't actually save my life."

"Twice." Jason said.

Jay looked up at the sky and sighed in sadness. The old goat was a bit much to handle, but Jay had come to respect him over the last month. He didn't want to cry or show any sadness at the moment. He had two brand new half-bloods, and a half-blood with no memories to look after. He knew the coach would want him to worry about them first and foremost, besides, he had become so accustomed to death he was starting to become numb to it.

Leo groaned even louder. "What happened? The tornado guy, the gold and silver swords… I hit my head! That's it, tight? I'm hallucinating."

Jay looked down at his blades now back at his waist. He looked over to Leo and Piper. "I wish I could tell you it was."

Jason reached down and picked up his golden sword. He flipped it up into the air and mid-flip turned back into a coin landing in his palm.

"Yep," Leo said. "Definitely hallucinating."

Piper shivered in her rain-soaked clothes. "Jay, Jason those things-."

"Venti," Jason said. "Storm spirits."

Piper eyed the two of them suspiciously. "Okay. You acted like… you'd seen them before. Who _are _you? And Jay, silver swords, giant falcon, _what _are you?" She asked them.

Jason shook his head. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know."

"I think Jason's lost his memories… a god or some powerful monster must have taken them away… we'll worry about that later. As for me…" He said cautiously.

He held out his hand and sighed.

"Look I know nothing seems to make sense right now, but it's important that I not reveal too much right now. It could attract unwanted attention. All you need to know is me and Hedge? We were sent here to protect you." He told them.

Jason nodded his head seeming to understand. "Yeah… you told me about that. You said you and Hedge were here to protect three people. You meant us, right?" He asked.

Jay nodded his head.

"And that thing Dylan turned into…" Piper shuddered. "God I can't believe it was _hitting _on me. He called us… what _demigods, _Jay what does that mean_?"_

Jay sighed, "Look if I tell you now, we could be in more danger, I just wonder where-."

Leo cut him off by groaning. He was laying on his back, staring at the sky. "I don't know what _demi _means," He said. "But I'm not feeling too godly. You guys feeling godly?"

Jay was about to explain more, when they all heard a brittle sound like dry twigs snapping, and cracks in the skywalk began to widen.

"We need to get off this thing," Jason said. "Maybe if we-."

"Ohhh-kay," Leo interrupted. "Look up there and tell me if those are flying horses."

Their heads shot up, and Jay sighed with relief. "They are, they're not just that though."

Jay pressed the wolf charm bracelet on his wrist and his bow gleamed to life. It was a long silver wooden bow with a thick black string. His friend's eyes widened with amazement, but he didn't say anything. He pulled the string back, and an arrow with a flaming tip materialized in his hands. He launched the arrow into the air, the signal he told Annabeth to look for.

Sure, enough soon the chariot began to descend. Two grey Pegasi came galloping through the air towards them, and gleaming white and gold chariot in tow.

"They're our reinforcements." He told them.

"Is that the extraction team you told me about?" Jason asked.

Jay nodded when Piper came up next to them with Leo. "Extraction squad?" Leo said. "Sounds painful."

"And where are they extracting us _to._" Piper asked.

He looked at them reassuringly. "Somewhere safe, somewhere your questions will be answered I promised." He told them.

Jay watched as the chariot descended onto the skywalk. The Pegasi tucked in their wings and cantered nervously across the glass. He noticed Annabeth first in the chariot like she had told him she would be, he saw Butch from the Iris cabin next to her, both wearing jeans and orange camp half-blood t-shirts. Annabeth swung her shield across her back and leaped off the chariot before it even landed. She saw Jay and ran towards him. She tackled him in a fierce hug.

"Thank the gods you're alright Jay." She turned to Jason, Piper and Leo.

Her storm grey eyes grew dark, she pulled her knife from her side and moved towards Jason. "Where is he!?"

"Where's who?" Jason asked, watching her knife uneasily.

She turned back on Jay with her grey eyes thundering, I shook my head. I knew she was hoping to find Percy here by some miracle. Her eyes fell slightly then reignited with the same ferocity as the storm a few minutes before.

"What about Gleeson? Where is Hedge? Jay!?" She demanded from them.

Leo cleared his throat before Jay could answer and pointed towards the sky. "Some… tornado dudes took him."

"Venti," Jason said. "Storm spirits."

She whirled back on Jason and arched an eyebrow. "You mean _anemoi thuel-lai? _Jay you should know that term." She said looking at him.

Jay shrugged his shoulders, "I must have missed that monster class."

She walked back up to Jay. "Jay what happened? I thought you and Hedge reported two? What happened here?" She said looking between him and the three.

Jay explained what had happened to Annabeth. About half-way through the story Butch came over from the chariot. He stood there brooding and staring at them. After Jay had finished telling the story Annabeth clearly wasn't satisfied.

"No, no, no! She_ told_ me he would be here. She told me if I came here I would find the answer!" She said angrily.

I put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "Annabeth, we'll fine him. I _promise."_

"Annabeth," Butch grunted. "Check it out." He said pointing to Jason's foot.

Jay looked down to Jason's foot with Annabeth, and his left shoe was still missing. He didn't have a charred left foot anymore, but the shoe was still missing.

"The guy with one shoe," Said the bald dude. "He's the answer."

"No Butch," She insisted. "He can't be, I was tricked."

She glared up at the sky, as if the gods themselves had done something to her, which they probably did.

"What do you want from me?" She screamed. "What have you done with him?"

I sighed and walked up behind her. "Annabeth we… we'll find him I'm sure of it. I'll tell you more about what happened back at camp. We need to leave though, the two of us will go search ourselves if we have too." He reassured her.

She grabbed his wrist and for a second Jay was terrified she was going to judo flip him over her shoulder, like she had done to her and Percy before. However, she just sighed and squeezed it.

"You're right." She turned back to the group.

Piper blinked her eyes like she had a realization. "Wait... _you're_ Annabeth?" She asked.

Leo despite the probable throbbing in his head snickered. Jay's eyes went wide, and he tried to interject.

"Well, we gotta get to camp, let's get going guys-." He tried to walk away but Annabeth pulled his sleeve and yanked him back.

"Yes…" She said suspiciously. "He was _supposed_ to keep me and everything about camp a secret." She said glaring at Jay.

He laughed nervously but Leo ruined it for him. "Oh man Jay, I didn't think I'd get to meet your _girlfriend_ anytime soon!"

Jay felt Annabeth's grip tighten on his forearm. She turned back to him, her stormy grey eyes about to erupt. "You're_ what _Jay!"

Jay laughed nervously and tried to pry his arm away to no avail. "Haha Annabeth look I promise I have a logical explanation to-."

He didn't finish before Annabeth twisted her arm and flung him over her shoulder. He landed on his back with a groan.

She fumed for another moment. "We'll settle this later." She said looking at Jason with a resentful look.

She turned on her heel and marched towards the chariot just as Jay started to make his way back to his feet.

He groaned and rubbed his back. "So… yeah she's not really my girlfriend."

They ignored this and Jason spoke up. "What's _her_ problem? What's going on?" He asked.

"Seriously." Leo said exasperated.

"We have to get you guys out of here," Jay told the three of them. "We'll explain more on the way."

"I'm not going anywhere with _her_. She just flipped you and looks like she wants to _kill _me." He said gesturing towards Annabeth.

Jay sighed and shook his head. "Annabeth's one of my best-friends she's great. You gotta cut her some slack. She had a vision telling her to come here, to find a guy with one shoe. That was supposed to be the answer to our problem."

"What problem?" She asked him looking, concerned as she heard his back crack.

"We've… been looking for someone. One of our campers, he's been missing for three days. She called me in tears two days ago, Annabeth doesn't cry… ever." He told them. "She was hoping he's be there. She's going out of her mind with worry, I've known her for years, she's never been like this."

"Who?" Jason asked them.

Jay turned to them with a sad sigh. "Her real boyfriend, my best-friend," He told them. "A guy named Percy Jackson."

**A/N: So our first bit of combat is over! Jason squared destroyed the storm spirit, and saved both Piper and Leo. However, coach hedge was taken. Now we're finally going back to camp half-blood were we'll see old friends like Nicolette 'Nikki' Cassidy, daughter of Apollo, and Gwen Stacey, the new daughter of Athena! If you wanna know more about them before next chapter go read the last three books, Nikki plays a huge role, and Gwen is in book three!**

**We see more about how Jay is simply damaged and out of shape since the battle for olympus. How will the upcoming events change him? Will he be able to go back to his old self? What did you think of this chapter!? What did you like, what do you wanna see, what are you looking forward too, what was your favorite part!?**

**Next chapter will be our first POV change, as we hand things over to everybody's favorite badass daughter of Aphrodite, Piper Mclean! I'm looking forward to finally having another POV, since the first three books were mainly from Jay's! What do you think Piper's thinking after all this!?**

**Expect the next chapter out sometime next week, thanks for the overwhelming amount of favs and follows so far its absolutely amazing! Leave a review and let me know what you think! See you next chapter!**


	3. Piper I

**The First Son of Artemis Book Four: The Lost Hero.**

**Piper I**

After a morning of storm spirits, goat men, flying boyfriends, and riding giant silver falcons, Piper should've been losing her mind. Instead all she felt was dread.

It was starting, she thought. Just like the dream said.

The part that was bothering her the worst however now, was the massive headache. She stood in the back of the chariot with Leo and Jason, her head pounding so hard she had to hold onto the railing. The bald guy, Butch handled the reins, and the blonde girl Annabeth, was huddled over a bronze navigational device talking with Jay in hushed whispers. This Annabeth was apparently Jay's fake girlfriend. He realized now the goof probably just stammered out the first thing that came to his head when her and Leo had walked in. She liked that about him, he liked to act tough, and strong to people around him, but on the inside, he was really just a giant goofball.

The headache had started as soon as he dropped her off on the skywalk. It didn't hurt her too bad then, but as more stuff got revealed to her the pain had risen. As she looked at Jay walking back towards them with a silver bow around his shoulders, it throbbed even more. The worse had been when she heard Jay say Annabeth wasn't really his girlfriend. She had felt… well relieved.

_Relieved? _She had thought to herself.

_I have a boyfriend, I have Jason. Jay's my friend but it shouldn't matter to me if he's single or not. _She had said, right before the splitting headache really started affecting her.

She felt her head throb again and gripped the railing tighter for support.

"You okay?" Jason said steadying her back onto the chariot.

Piper looked him and forced a smile, "I'm fine. Just a little air sick I guess." She lied.

He smiled at her and she felt her heart strings get tugged, and her head flail in pain again. She felt as if there were two people slamming into each other repeatedly with baseball bats inside her head. Every time they collided her head rang, and it was seriously starting to bother her. The chariot lurched and she had to grab onto the railing for support again. It had no seat belts and an open back; she could fall out with a single bump.

She wondered if Jay would leap off the side and save her on his magic falcon again, or if Jason would fly down and catch her. That was the most disturbing part of her entire morning. Not that Jay had flew down on a magic falcon to save her, or that Jason could fly, it was that the headache rang through whenever she looked at him, and he had no idea who she was.

All semester she'd worked on a relationship, trying to get Jason to notice her as more then just a friend. Finally, she had gotten the big dope to kiss her on the rooftop during the meteor shower a few weeks ago. The last few dating him had been some of the best of her life, however she had remembered this headache persisting. Whenever she tried to remember something her and Jason did, her head panged with pain and Jay came into her mind instead. Then, three nights ago was when the dream had ruined everything, that horrible voice, giving them horrible news. She hadn't told anyone yet, not even Jason.

Now she didn't even have him. It was like someone had quite literally as Jay said, wiped his memory, now she was stuck with the worst 'do over' in history.

_Maybe this is a good thing. _A thought rang across her head.

_How is it a good thing!?" _Another thought yelled, as she clutched her temples. Jason stared out into the horizon, not even noticing her.

Meanwhile, Leo was being annoying, as usual. "This is so cool!" He spat a Pegasus feather out of his mouth. "Where are we going?" He asked.

Jay laughed as he an Annabeth looked at them all. "A safe place," Annabeth said. "The _only _safe place for kids like, us. Camp Half-Blood."

"Half-blood?" Piper was immediately on guard. She hated that term. She had been called it enough times in her life, Half-Cherokee, Half White-and it was never a compliment.

"Is that some sort of sick joke?" She said defensively.

Jay smiled at her, which annoyed her for a minute until she saw the twinkle of pride in his silver eyes. He was leaning back against the railing with his arms crossed. He wore the same orange t-shirt as Annabeth and Butch, with the words Camp Half-Blood, and a flying Pegasus on the front. She had noticed him in an orange shirt often at school, but she realized she had never read what the front said now. He had jeans held up with his belt buckle that could apparently become swords, and white sneakers.

She looked between the face of him and Jason again. It pained her how handsome they both were. That was something she admitted she thought even after she started dating Jason. He smiled at her, those silver eyes, that seemed to sparkle in moonlight, the unruly and unkept brown hair, that scar that ran across horizontally across his cheek may had made some girls look away, but Piper had come to like it. He had never told her how he got it when she asked, he always closed up and said he got it defending someone important to him, but that was it. The scar was Piper's way of knowing that he had her back. She could see why all the girls at wilderness school fawned over him when he arrived.

He laughed a little and shook his head. "Calm down Piper," He said calmly. "She didn't mean it like that. We're all half-bloods here, it-."

"You mean we're demigods," Jason said. "Half human, Half god."

Jay gave him an impressed look and when the two locked eyes Piper's head clashed again. She looked at Jason, he had a more perfect kind of look then Jay, who was more ruggedly handsome. Those icy blue eyes, and cross cropped blonde hair, that cute scar above his lip. His face was kind and gentle, but always a little sad. That was opposed to Jay who always tried to act strong and confident, however she had caught him up late at night before, simply sitting in a windowsill in the hallway, staring at the two leather cord necklaces around his neck, and looking as if he felt miserable.

Her pain subsided for a moment, and Annabeth spoke, looking at Jason. "You seem to know a lot, Jason. But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of Wisdom. Butch here is the son of Iris, the goddess of the rainbow. And Jay here…" She said elbowing him when he didn't pay attention.

The goofball's head shot back towards them. He was biting his bottom lip how he always did when he was nervous.

_How do I know so much? Jay's my friend but I never paid THAT close attention to him. _One voice said.

_Of course, you did! Don't you remember!?" _The second said again, and they clashed again.

Piper closed her eyes for a moment hoping the pain would go away. It did and she opened them just as Jay sighed.

"And like you guys know, my name Jason Nicholson, Jay, I'm the first and only son of Artemis." He said with a mock bow.

Leo scratched his chin and seemed to realize something. "Now my Greek Mythology isn't that good but wasn't Artemis…" He said gesturing for Jay to finish the sentence.

He quickly nodded. "Yes, yes I know. My dad… he was the one exception, but you see they never actually-."

"Not important right now Jay." Annabeth interjected.

He shook his head. "Yeah you're right. I'll explain it later but it's super complicated and I don't wanna get into it now." He said nervously.

Piper suddenly remembered another thing she though she knew about Jay. He had told them that his father had died, and he never met his mother. He had been bouncing around foster homes and running away from schools, before the courts sent him to Nevada. She crossed her arms.

"What about… your sister, is she a demigod? You told us your father was dead and you were running away from schools?" Piper demanded.

Jay again bit his bottom lip. "Alex is um… well she's not a demigod she's… something else, that's _another_ story I'll tell you later. My dad well… that part was true. Look Pipes, Leo I… I'm really sorry for lying to you guys."

"Lying about being a monster killing, flipping, falcon flying demigod? Gosh I wish you had shown me sooner!" Leo said with excitement.

Jay laughed a little and rubbed his head. "I wanted to tell you guys the whole time, I really did but demigods… they live a dangerous life. Once a demigod knows that they're a demigod their scent intensifies, attracting even more monsters, we were lucky with _just _Dylan."

Piper looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes. Not because she was particularly mad, mildly annoyed yes, but she thought the next clash in her head would send her flying back.

He sighed again. "I'm still your friend. I mean that. I'm not gonna stop being your friend. Every minute I spent hanging out with you guys I loved it, it was all real. I hope you can forgive me…" He said his head lowering.

_It was all real. _That statement made Piper's head flare up in pain again.

She painfully looked up and met Jay's silver pleading eyes. She saw how genuine he looked; she could practically feel it. She gave him a small smile and shook her head.

"Don't worry, we're not mad. Right Leo?" She said, turning to him.

Leo scoffed and shook his head. "Ha, no way! This is so cool; I can't wait to see how some of these things work!"

Piper's head flared up and she shook her head. Demi-gods, monsters, gods, the idea of her mother being a goddess? It wasn't helping her headache as she learned more. She shook her head, she wanted to believe that.

"So, demigods," Piper said. "You mean you really think you're-. You think we're-."

Lightning flashed, and Jay's head shot up. "BUTCH HARD RIGHT-."

The chariot shuddered, and they all grabbed onto the sides. Jason yelled, "Left wheel's on fire-."

Piper stepped back. Sure enough, the left wheel on the chariot had burst into flames. Fire started to flicker and spread to parts of the chariot.

"_Malakas!" _Jay yelled, as he gripped the railing.

Piper didn't want to think how she had somehow understood what Jay said as Ancient Greek, or better yet how she understood what he said, which wasn't very flattering. The wind roared, she glanced behind them and saw shapes forming in the clouds, more storm spirits were beginning to take shape, barreling towards the chariot, except these weren't human, they seemed more like horses.

She started to say, "Why are they-."

"_Anemoi _come in different shapes," Annabeth said. "Sometimes human, sometimes stallions. It depends on how chaotic they are, this is going to get rough, hold on. Jay can you take off and hold them off?" She shouted across to Jay.

Jay was busy keeping Leo from falling out of the chariot. He shook his head, "No can do, Agatha would be tossed around everywhere in this wind!"

Annabeth cursed in Greek and shouted to Butch, "Get us out of here Butch!"

Butch responded and flicked the reins. The Pegasi put on a burst of speed and surged forward, casing the chariot to blur. Piper felt like everything she had eaten in the last three days was coming back up into her throat. Her vision eventually went black, and when it came back, they were in a completely different area.

A cold grey ocean stretched out to the left. Snow-covered fields, roads, and forests spread to the right. Directly below them was a green valley, like an island of eternal springtime, rimmed with snowy hills on three sides and water to the north. Piper saw a cluster of buildings like ancient Greek temples, a big blue mansion, ball courts, a lake, and a climbing wall that seemed to be on fire. But before she could really process all she was seeing; their wheels came off and the chariot dropped out of the sky.

Annabeth and Butch tried to maintain control, she felt the chariot jerk again and she tumbled back. She saw the entire back of the chariot sprawled and a giant lake below them. Just before she could go over an edge for the second time that day, she felt a hand grab the back of her snowboarding jacket.

"Gotcha!" She heard Jay yell as she was yanked back.

She grabbed the edge and clamped her hands down as hard as she could. She saw Jay with a rush of relief on his face and she nodded to him, feeling her head suddenly shot with pain again.

The Pegasi labored to hold the chariot upright in a flight pattern, but they seemed exhausted from the burst of speed, and bearing the chariot with the weight of six people was too much.

"The lake!" Annabeth yelled. "Aim for the lake!"

"NO DON'T AIM FOR THE LAKE," Jay yelled in desperation. "AIM FOR ANYWHERE BUT THE LAKE!"

Piper remembered something her dad had once told her, about hitting water from up high was as bad as hitting concrete.

And then-BOOM.

The biggest shock was the cold. She was underwater, so disoriented that she didn't know which way was up. She did however see a flash of orange next to her flailing around like he was in a blender. She just had time to think _this would be a stupid way to die. _Then faces appeared in the green murk-girls with long black hair and bright yellow eyes. They smiled at her, grabbed her shoulders, and hauled her up.

They tossed her, gasping and shivering, onto the shore. Nearby, Butch stood in the lake, trying to cut free pieces of the harness from the Pegasi. Fortunately, the horses looked okay, but they were flapping their wings and splashing water everywhere. Jason, Leo and Annabeth were already on shore, surrounded by kids giving them blankets and asking questions. She thought for a fearful second that Jay hadn't made it out, but then she heard the groaning next to her. The boy was on his back next to her on all fours spitting out water and spewing out more curses in Ancient Greek.

"Stupid… water…" He muttered among other things.

"Jay!" She heard a voice yell.

A girl, Piper saw she was about 16 with choppy platinum blonde hair down to her shoulders came running over. She had on an orange camp shirt, with jeans like Jay had, but she was wearing what Piper recognized as Greek combat armor over her body, with what looked like a shield and bronze spear latched to her back. She tossed a blanket around Jay.

"Thanks- '_cough, cough' _Gwen, help-_ 'Cough, cough' _Piper." He said weakly pointing in her direction.

The girl, Gwen, came over and took Piper by the arms, helping her to her feet. She wrapped an orange blanket around her arms and smiled at her. Piper muttered her thanks between chattering teeth. Apparently, kids fell in the lake a lot, because a detail of campers ran up with big bronze leaf blower-looking things and blasted Piper with hot air, and in about two seconds her and all her friends were dry.

There were at least twenty campers milling around- the youngest maybe nine, the oldest was college age- eighteen or nineteen-and all of them had on the similar orange camp half-blood t-shirts that Jay and Annabeth were wearing. Piper looked back at the water and saw those strange girls just below the surface. They waved like, _see ya, _and disappeared back into the water. A second later, the wreckage of the chariot was pulled out of the lake and landed nearby with a crunch.

"Annabeth, Jay!" The crowd parted and a girl walked through.

She was clearly a leader amongst them from the way the other campers were looking at her, and Piper could see why. She was taller like Annabeth, her hair was blonde, with dark brown streaks in it, so now it looked more-dirty blonde. She had it tied into a loose ponytail down her back. She was wearing Greek combat armor, but it was all golden, across her back was a bow, and quiver of arrows, along with a sword and scabbard. She had intense icy blue eyes and looked at the chariot.

"I said you could _borrow _the chariot, not destroy it!" She said in a joking manner.

Jay laughed and even Annabeth managed a smile. "Nikki I'm sorry," She told the girl, she really could be Annabeth's twin. "We'll get it fixed I promise." Annabeth promised.

Nikki sighed at the damage to her chariot and then sized up Jason, Piper, and Leo. When her blue eyes passed over Piper, she could see the intenseness in them, like this girl had been through and seen some seriously crazy stuff.

She turned her eyes to Jay this time. "These the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

"Claimed?" Leo asked.

Before Jay or anyone could explain she looked at Annabeth with pained eyes. "Any sign of… Percy?"

Annabeth looked down so Jay stood up and shook his head. "No," He admitted.

The campers muttered. Piper had no idea who this Percy guy was, but his disappearance seemed to be a big deal.

Another girl stepped forward-tall, Asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry, and plenty of makeup. Somehow, she managed to make jeans and an orange t-shirt look glamorous. She gave Jay a dazzling smile and winked at him, then sized up Leo, before fixing her eyes on Jason like he may be worthy of her attention, then curled her lip at Piper as if she were a half-eaten burrito that she had just found in a dumpster. Piper knew the girl's type. She had dealt with a lot of them at the Wilderness School, and every other stupid school her father had sent her to. Piper knew instantly they would be enemies.

"Well," the girl said, "I hope they're worth the trouble."

Piper wanted to say something, but Jay spoke out, his voice full of anger.

"_Every_ demigod is worth it Drew don't you forget that." He hissed at her. A few campers nodded along with Jay, but Drew took it in stride.

Leo snorted. "Gee thanks. What are we, your new pets?"

"No kidding," Jason said. "How about some answers before you start judging us-like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

Piper felt a wave on anxiety wash over. _Worth the trouble. _If they only knew about her dream. They had no idea…

"Jason," Annabeth said. "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew."-she frowned at the glamour girl-. "Jay is right, every demigod is worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."

"Hey," Piper said. "we didn't ask to be brought here."

Drew sniffled. "And nobody _wants _you here hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"

Piper went to step forward, ready to smack her, but Jay held his arm out to stop her. "That's _enough _Drew. If I have to tell you again you and your cabin will get bathroom duty and I'll _make sure_ you participate." He shouted.

This seemed to make Drew back down. Piper looked back up at Jay, who moved his arm from her. She felt her stomach warm up, she could fight her own battles, but what he did was sweet.

"We need to make out new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said. Piper wasn't scared of Drew, but Annabeth didn't seem like somebody she wanted to make an enemy out of, her and Jay seemed to be leaders.

"We'll assign them each a guide. Give them a tour of camp. Hopefully they'll be claimed by the campfire tonight."

"Would somebody please tell me what _claimed _means?" Piper asked.

Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. At first Piper thought she had done something wrong, and then she noticed the strange red glow around them. She turned and almost forgot how to breath.

Floating above Leo's head was a blazing holographic image- a fiery hammer.

"That," Jay said next to her. "Is claiming."

"What'd I do!?" Leo back up towards the lake. "Is my hair on fire!?"

Leo ducked and dodged his head, but the symbol followed him wherever he went. It was as if he were trying to write something with the light in the sky.

"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse-."

"Quiet Butch," Jay told him. "Leo my friend you've just been claimed-."

"By a god," Jason said. "That's the symbol of Vulcan right?"

All eyes turned to him.

"Jason," Annabeth said. "How did you know that?"

"I'm not sure." He said.

"Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE _Star Trek_. What are you talking about?"

"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Annabeth said, "The god of blacksmiths and fire."

The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting at it like it was going to follow him. "The god of what? Who?"

Annabeth turned to the girl with the short platinum hair that had helped Piper off the ground. "Gwen, can you take Leo, give him the tour? Introduce him to his bunkmates in Cabin Nine."

The girl Gwen nodded eagerly like she was glad to be given an assignment. "Sure, thing Annabeth. Come on Leo." She said gesturing for him to follow.

"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"

The girl rolled her eyes, "Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." Gwen said. She put a hand on his shoulder and escorted him to the cabins.

Annabeth turned towards Jason. Piper didn't like it when other girls looked at her boyfriend, to check him out. However, Annabeth didn't seem to care he was a good-looking guy. She was studying him like he was a fascinating blueprint.

_Let her, it's not real! _She heard in her head.

_Of course, it's real! _The next voice said.

Piper hadn't even noticed her headache was gone, but now it shot up again. Her winced as she felt the crashing in her head again.

"Hold out your arm." Annabeth finally said.

Piper saw what she was looking at and her eyes widened.

Jason had taken off his windbreaker in the lake, leaving his arms bare. On the inside of his right arm was a tattoo. How had she not noticed it before? She had looked at Jason a hundred times. The tattoo couldn't have just _appeared. _The thought was ridiculous. It was darkly etched however, completely impossible to miss. A dozen straight lines etched like a barcode, with an eagle and the letters _SPQR. _

"I've never seen marks like this before," Annabeth said. "Where did you get them?"

Jason shook his head. "I'm getting really tired of saying this, but I don't know."

The other campers all rushed forward to get a glimpse at the tattoo. The mark seemed to bother them _a lot_, like it was a declaration of war. The girl Nikki narrowed her eyes at Jason, like she was ready to pull out that sword and slice him in two.

"They look burned into your skin." Annabeth noticed.

"They were," Jason said. Then he winced as if his head was aching as well. "I mean… I think so. I don't remember."

Annabeth sighed; she must have been tired of him saying that as well. Nobody said anything. It was clear the campers saw Annabeth, and Jay as their leaders. They were waiting for a verdict from one of them. Jay looked down at Annabeth and they seemed to have a silent conversation, Annabeth nodded to him and he turned to the campers.

"We need to bring him straight to Chiron," He announced. "Nik can you do it?" He asked the girl in the golden armor.

Nikki shook her head. "Sorry Jay, with Percy gone I… I had to take over teaching sword fighting lessons. I need to get back to it."

Jay sighed like he was disappointed. The two of them locked eyes, Piper could see and feel something had gone on between the two of them. She had no idea what, she hadn't recalled Jay ever mentioning anyone named Nikki, but clearly by the pained, and annoyed look in Nikki's eyes and the disappointment in Jay's the two clearly had some kind of history. Piper felt inside do backflips, before her head ached again.

Jay sighed and looked in a new direction. "Drew… would you-."

"Absolutely." Drew laced her arm through Jason's. Piper saw Jay mouth an 'I'm so sorry.' Towards Jason. "This was sweetie. I'll introduce you to our director. He's… an _interesting _guy." She flashed Piper a smug look and led Jason towards the bug blue house on the hill.

The crowd began to disperse until only Annabeth, Jay and Piper were left.

"Who's Chiron?" Piper asked. "Is Jason in some kind of trouble?"

Annabeth hesitated. "Good question, Piper."

She turned to Jay, "Could you help me give her the tour?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll come with you. Just let me get to my cabin, I wanna make sure Nikki brought everything from the house."

Annabeth nodded and he turned to Piper. "I'll be back soon Pipes. Annabeth here will start your tour."

Piper felt her headache again. Also, her chest pump harder. She didn't want Jay to leave. He was the only constant thing that had been there through this whole mess. She didn't see any reason for Annabeth to do anything to her, but she would have felt better with someone familiar along. However, she was stronger than that and she knew it. She looked into his silver eyes and slowly nodded her head.

He smiled and nodded, before walking off towards the cabins. Overhead a loud bird cry pierced the air. Piper's head shot up along with Annabeth's. Piper saw a flash of silver dart through the air, a large gust of wind blew Piper's hair back, and a giant silver falcon landed next to them. Piper finally got a good look at the falcon, Agatha, Jay had said her name was. She was a majestic creature, at least the size of a horse, even longer if she extended her wings Piper guessed. She had gleaming silver feathers, that she kept nipping at. Her head was a darker silver, closer to grey. Intense golden eyes stared at Piper and Annabeth.

Piper was frightened for a moment, not that the creature was aggressive, but she didn't know if anyone else could touch her.

Her thought was dashed when she saw Annabeth reach over and rub behind the falcon's ear.

"Good to see you again Agatha, how are you feeling girl?" She said, managing a pained smile.

The falcon gently nipped at Annabeth's face, and cooed, almost apologetically. It was as if the animal knew what she was going through and trying to console her. Annabeth looked at the bird thankfully then turned to Piper. She managed a smile, when she saw the look on Piper's face.

"She's gorgeous, isn't she?" Annabeth said.

Piper nodded her head, and soon her and the falcon had locked eyes. "She's beautiful…" She said wistfully.

Annabeth smiled and gently stroked the falcon's black beak. "She was Jay's gift from his mother. She was raised to be Jay's guardian. Gotten Jay, and the rest of us out of some sticky situations haven't you." She said to her.

Agatha cooed and rubbed her beak against Annabeth's cheek. She managed a small laugh and looked at Piper again. She must have seen how Piper's eyes were trained on the majestic creature.

"You can pet her you know. She's really friendly, Me, Nikki, and… Percy we've been through a lot but, I'm sure she'll let you pet her. Go on, try it." She said taking her hands off the bird.

Piper stretched out her hand and like Annabeth said Agatha let her pet the beautiful silver feathers. Her coat was warm to the touch, and silky smooth. The falcon nuzzled against Piper's hand and coo-ed contentedly, before brushing her beak against Piper cheek.

She laughed and rubbed both hands along the sides of the falcon's neck and looked over to Annabeth. "Haha, she's a sweetheart. She's… so warm."

Annabeth managed a smiled and studied Piper. "Yes, she is. Jay must be in a decent mood. I wonder…"

"Wonder what?" Piper asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing important it's just… were you and Jay… _close_ at Wilderness School?"

Piper felt heat rush to her face. The way Annabeth said _close_ she clearly wasn't asking if she and Jay were just good friends. A ringing in her head flared again, but she quickly shook her head.

"What, no, I have a boyfriend, Jason. Jay and I we… we're just really good friends. He introduced himself to me and Leo right away, we hit it off within the first conversation." She quickly explained, trying to make her face less red.

Annabeth studied Piper again like she was a blueprint she couldn't understand. She looked over at Agatha who was still nuzzling her beak against Piper's hand like a cat or dog did when it wanted attention.

She looked back to Piper. "I've… always had a theory about Agatha. Jay and she they're linked, a bond that can't be broken. She seems to mimic his emotions… and his feelings."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, obliging the falcon with more pets.

Annabeth came and rubbed the side of the falcon's head. "You see, Agatha will let people like Percy, Nikki and I pet her without problems, we're his best-friends. However, I remember once when Drew tried to come and pet her, she nipped at her fingers. Put Drew in the infirmary for a few days."

Piper resisted the urge to laugh as Annabeth went on. "Jay doesn't Drew that much… so that's why I wanted to ask how close the two of you were. She's quit taken by you." She said.

Agatha cooed contentedly again and nipped affectionately on Piper's hand. She then turned locked eyes with her, and Piper was amazed by the intelligence the creature seemed to show.

The bird cooed again, and Piper could almost make out her saying. _Where is Jay._

"He went that way." She said pointing towards the cabins.

Agatha couldn't smile but she looked at Piper and nipped at her hand again before lifting off into the air and flying towards the cabins. Piper watched her leave with a smile. She was thankful to Jay and the falcon for saving her, but she mentally scolded herself for becoming so attached.

She would be forced to betray them in the end anyway.

Annabeth interrupted her thinking again. "How did you-."

Piper shook her head. "I didn't hear a voice or anything! I just got the sense she wanted to know where Jay went."

Annabeth bit her lip. "Jay told me he hears her voice in his head. Although one time… no, I don't want to get my hopes up." She said shaking her head.

Piper was now thoroughly confused, however she knew whatever Annabeth was talking about involved her, so naturally now she wanted to know.

"What, what is it? Don't get your hopes up for what?" She demanded, tired of having so many questions.

Annabeth sighed, and then seemed to look around like she was making sure nobody heard her.

"Well ONE other person was able to hear Agatha's voice, she was also the only other one to ride her as well." She told Piper.

"But… I rode her, Jay saved me from falling to the bottom of the Grand Canyon on her back." Piper explained.

Annabeth waved it off like that was trivial. "All of us have ridden on her back before. However, Jay is her only _rider _the one to take the reins as you'd say. Well, now he's the only one there… there was someone else who could as well. Piper before we go, I have to ask how… how _was_ Jay at the School?"

Piper felt like she was part of a Dr. Phil episode suddenly. However, she answered as best she could. "He… was fine, I think. On the outside he acts all tough, and strong-."

"As per usual." Annabeth said gesturing for her to continue.

She did. "He… he was always sticking up for Leo and me. I like to fight my own battles, but Jay was always there. He seemed fine to me but…"

"What, what is it?" Annabeth pressed.

Piper bit her lip nervously like Jay did. She didn't know if she wanted to share how she's caught Jay multiple times, multiple nights, sitting on the windowsill in the hallway, or up on the roof of the school. He would be gazing out the open window, or at the roof at the moon and stars, looking between it and the two leather cord necklaces her always had around his neck.

She looked at Annabeth however and could tell she cared about him. If they were best friends like she claimed, maybe she could help him with whatever was wrong, and help him through it. She explained to Annabeth what she had observed of Jay out on the window and roof of the school. She also told her about how now and then he would just get these far off, sad looks in his eyes.

Annabeth sighed; it was clearly not the answer she wanted to hear.

"This isn't good," She said, starting to pace. "We had hoped giving him some time there would help him. With Percy gone, the gods quiet I… I need him now, more then ever."

The way Annabeth sounded, Jay being sad and looking at a leather cord necklace meant the end of the world.

"What do you mean, sending him there would help him? I'm sure whatever's bothering him will go away eventually." Piper said, hoping it was true.

Annabeth looked at her with those stormy grey eyes. "You don't understand Piper Jay he… he's scarred more then you could understand, after what happened to Bianca-."

_Bianca. _As soon as the name came out of Annabeth's mouth she froze and turned to Piper.

"Whatever you do, please don't mention that name to Jay." She said with urgency.

Piper looked at her miffed. "Um… okay, but who's Bianca? Was she the other person who could ride Agatha?" She inquired.

Annabeth nodded. "Yes, she was. As for _who _she was. It… it's not my story to tell, it's Jay's. He'll talk to us when he's ready. Now, we should get going. I have a tour to give you."

Piper nodded her head, eager to get off the beach and hopefully finally get some answers. Like why there was a raging headache in her mind right now, why her gym teacher had turned into a half-goat, why her friend could suddenly flip in the air slashing swords, why her boyfriend could fly, why he didn't remember her, and a host of other questions. However, despite all of that the one was at the tip of her tongue currently.

Who was this _Bianca _and why was it Jay's story to tell?

**A/N: So we finally get our first non-Jay chapter! That is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most with Heroes of Olympus, seeing how Jay impacts the lives of all these characters we know and love's POV. The first three Son of Artemis books were all mainly from Jay's POV with a few POVs from Nikki and Bianca. **

**How did you all enjoy Piper's POV? It is certainly different from the cannon that is for sure. Where do you think her story is going to lead? Once the quest starts, what do you think her interactions with Jay will be like? What will her reaction be when she figures out the story of Bianca D'Angelo...? If **_**YOU**_** don't know the story of Bianca D'Angelo in my stories, go back and read the first three books and as I'm sure everyone agrees she was slightly different xD**

**I'm also going to explore the relationship and connection between Jay and Agatha much more in this series which is something I am going to LOVE. More news, I also have TONS of ideas for little one-shot or small 1-3 chapter short stories with some of the adventures Jay, Percy, Bianca, Annabeth, Nikki, Gwen, Alex, etc… planned in my head, I may publish one soon so be on the lookout for that! **

**I'll be sure to have the next chapter of this out for you guys by next week, I hope you all enjoyed! Please, please, please leave a review, nothing makes an author wanna stop writing more then not getting any feedback xD So please, leave your opinions, what you're excited for, what you liked, and what I can improve! PM me with any questions! Thanks again and see you soon!**


	4. Piper II

**The First Son of Artemis Book Four: The Lost Hero**

**Piper II**

Piper soon realized; Annabeth's heart wasn't really in the tour. She walked her around the camp, telling her about all of the great things it offered. Magic archery practice, Pegasus riding, lava wall climbing fighting monsters-but showed no excitement, as if her mind was somewhere else. She showed her the dining pavilion that looked out over long island sound. (Yes, Long Island, New York; they had traveled that far in the chariot.) She explained how camp half-blood was mainly a summer camp, but some kids stayed year round, and they'd added so many campers the camp was crowded even in the winter like it was now.

Piper wondered who ran the camp, and how they knew she was supposed to be there. She wondered would she stay year-round or be any good at any of the activities? Could you flunk monster fighting? She was prepared to knock whatever Dylan was out of the sky with the coach's baseball bat, but that was more adrenaline on her part. If not for Jay and Jason, she would've probably been killed. A million questions bobbled in her aching head, which had finally seemed to calm for a moment. Given Annabeth's mood however, she decided to keep quiet. She wished that Jay were there, if he really had been at this camp so long, he'd hopefully answer her questions.

As they climbed up the hill towards the edge of camp and got an amazing view of the valley. All of the cabins were arranged like the shape of a Greek omega. The cabins were absolutely beautiful. Two of them glowed a beautiful gold, and silver color. One was bright red with barbed wire trenches, another was black with fiery green torches. Her eyes however laid on the silver cabin, when she saw Agatha the falcon landed on the roof.

"That's cabin 8, Jay's cabin. The Artemis cabin was vacant for the camp's entire existence until Jay came along." Annabeth told her when she saw her staring.

"How… how is it not snowy? How come all the cabins look so different?" She asked.

"The valley is protected from mortal eyes." She told Piper. "The weather is magically controlled as well. Each cabin represents a Greek god- a place for that gods children to live."

She locked eyes with Piper, trying to gage how she would react.

"You're saying Mom was a goddess."

Annabeth nodded. "You're taking this awfully calmly."

Piper couldn't tell her why. She couldn't admit that this all confirmed some weird feelings she'd had for years, fights with her father, asking why there was no pictures of mom in the house, how he wouldn't tell her who she was, or even why exactly she left. But mostly, the dream had warned her that this was coming. _Soon they will find you demigod. _The voice had rumbled. _When they do follow our directions, and your father may live. _

Piper took a shaky breath. "I guess after this morning, it's a little easier to believe. So, who's my mom?"

"We should know soon. It's hard to tell right off looks, Jay has known you longer he may have a good guess. But we should know for sure soon." Annabeth said. "You're what- fifteen? Gods are supposed to claim you when you're thirteen. That was the deal.

"The deal?"

"Long story short, last summer, we defended Olympus from an invading army and saved it. After that Jay and… Percy made them promise not to ignore their demigod children anymore, to claim them by the time they turn thirteen. Sometimes it takes longer, but you saw how fast Leo was claimed once he got here. The same happened for Jay as soon as he arrived in camp, he was claimed that night. Should happen for you soon. Tonight, at the campfire, I bet we'll get a sign."

Piper wondered if she would get a flaming hammer over her head. The more she thought about it, the more her head started to ache again. Whoever her mother was, Piper had no reason to think she'd claim a kleptomaniac daughter with massive problems. The more she heard about camp, in particular Jason Nicholson, the more her head hurt.

"Why thirteen?"

"The older you get," Annabeth said, "the more monsters notice you, try to kill you. Around thirteen is usually when it starts. That's why we send protectors into schools to find you guys, get you to camp before it's too late."

"Like Coach Hedge?"

Annabeth nodded. "He's-he was a satyr; half man, half goat. Satyrs work for the camp, finding demigods, protecting them, bringing them in when the time is right."

Piper had no trouble believing Coach Hedge was half goat she had seen the guy eat. What she wondered however was what Jay had been doing there is Coach Hedge was already protecting her Leo and Jason. She figured she could ask Annabeth, seeing as her and Jay seemed to be close.

"If Coach Hedge was our protector… why was Jay there?" She asked.

Annabeth sighed and looked down towards the cabins, Piper assumed she was looking at Cabin 8, where you could see the faint figure of Jay walking out of his cabin. She turned back to Piper.

"Jay is one of the best of us, has been since he was claimed. Being the only son of Artemis, he's always been powerful. Besides a few a couple campers think he could be the most powerful demigod of this generation. For years it was the four of us, me, our satyr friend Grover, Jay and… Percy." Annabeth explained.

"Dylan called him 'Percy Jackson's sidekick.' It made Jay really angry." She told her, remembering what Dylan said.

Annabeth scoffed. "Jay is far from anyone's sidekick. The four of us we went on more quests then I can count, saved the world and the gods dozens of times. It seems Dylan knew what to say to make him angry. That's besides the point. Him, Percy, Nikki and I are the camp leaders, we led our fellow demigods in the Titan War at the battle of Olympus, like I was telling you about."

Piper had a hard time at first believing goofball Jay had fought in a war. However, the more she thought the more it, kind of made sense. He always had a look in his eyes, a look that seemed like they had seen everything, and experienced everything despite the fact he was sixteen. His eyes had intimidated Piper at first, but after he introduced himself and she got to know him better, she liked to think she saw deeper into them, like she understood him better. She remembered what Dylan had called him during their fight.

"Dylan called him a 'washed up demigod' what was he talking about? From what you say Jay seems far from washed up." She asked.

Piper looked disappointed. "That may be our fault. You see after the battle of Olympus… something happened. It's not my place to tell you what but afterwards, Jay was… broken. For months he wasn't training, coming to camp, nothing. He… he basically stopped being a demigod, if not for Nikki and Alex living and going to school with him, he'd probably be dead."

Piper felt heat rush up her body. That one girl with the golden armor lived with Jay. She felt angry for a moment but was interrupted by her splitting headache. She almost fell to her knees, but thankfully Annabeth caught her.

"Piper, what is it?" She asked.

Piper shook her head in annoyance, she was getting tired of this headache. "This stupid headache! Ever since the Grand Canyon I've had it!"

Annabeth looked at her with pity. "I… I think I know why. Come on, I think I know a way to get rid of it."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The two hiked a little further up until they reached a cave near the top of the hill. Bones and old swords were littering the ground at their feet. Torches flanked the entrance, which was covered by a velvet curtain embroidered with snakes. It looked like some sort of twisted puppet show.

"What's in there?" Piper asked.

Annabeth poked her head inside the curtain and Piper heard her sigh with displeasure. She closed the curtains and looked back to her. "Nothing right now, a friends place. I've been expecting her for a few days, but nothing so far."

"Your friend lives in a cave?"

Annabeth managed a smile. "Actually, her family owns a luxury condo in Queens, and she goes to a finishing school in Connecticut. But when she's here at camp, yes, she lives in a cave. She's out oracle, tells the future. I was hoping she could help me-."

"Find Percy?" Piper guessed.

Color drained from Annabeth's face, like she had finally lost it after holding it together for as long as she could. She sat down on a rock and her expression was so full of pain Piper felt like a voyeur. She felt bad now for making her mention him when she asked questions.

She forced herself to look away. Her eyes drifted over to the crest of the hill, where a single pine tree dominated the skyline. Something glittered in its lowest branch-like a fuzzy gold bathmat.

No… not a bathmat. It was a sheep's fleece.

Okay, Piper thought. Greek camp. They've got a replica of the golden fleece.

Then she noticed the base of the tree. At first, she thought it was wrapped in a pile of purple massive cables. But the cables had reptilian scales, clawed feet, and a snakelike head with yellow eyes and smoking nostrils.

"That's- a dragon," She stammered. "That's the actual Golden Fleece?"

"You bet it is, thanks to yours truly." A new voice came.

Jay came walking up the camp. He looked completely rejuvenated from his dip into the lake. He had on a new orange camp t-shirt, with tan cargo shorts, and a pair of Nikes on. Piper had known him for a while now, but this felt to her like the first time she had taken a good look at him, the _real _him. He seemed so much more comfortable. He had a Mediterranean complexion, with a tan that wasn't too dark, but still it looked like he spent most of his time outdoors. His silver irises held a deep look of understanding to them, like he was someone who had seen, and experienced way more than your average 16-year-old should. For the first time as well, she noticed the silver wolf charm bracelet on his wrist, along with a black belt that snaked around his waist, with a silver Greek omega where the buckle should be. His hair seemed washed, but was still an unruly, unkept mess of brown. If Piper had seen him at the mall, she would think he was a jock of sorts who hung out at the sports equipment store, milling through a bunch of things he already had.

'_He's gorgeous.' _One voice said in her head.

It felt like the second voice was slapping the first. _'No! Jason is the gorgeous one!'_

Piper shook her head to stop them and looked at him incredulously. "You're saying _you _were the one who found and brought the fleece back?"

He laughed a little and shook his head, gesturing towards Annabeth. "Well it was a team effort. If not for Annabeth here I'd be dead, saved my life that day." He said looking at her.

Piper could tell Jay was trying to reassure his friend. Put her in a better mood somehow, she appreciated that about him. He was always trying to cheer people up, whether by humor of encouragement.

It seemed to work for a moment, Annabeth smiled slightly and stood up. "You could say that about a lot more quests. Particularly one's that involve water."

Jay shrugged like the gest didn't matter. "Hey, it's terrifying what can I say. I swear it'll kill me one day. 'Jason Nicholson, 17, dies taking a bath in the river. He is survived by his sister Alex, best-friends Annabeth Chase, Percy Jack-."

Jay froze up as soon as the name left his lips, he looked at Annabeth who's shoulders and face fell again.

Jay sighed. "I'm sorry Annabeth… I… I miss him too."

Annabeth sighed and rubbed her face; her breath was shaky. "It's alright, I'm just… a little tired."

"You look ready to drop," Piper said. "How long have you been looking for your boyfriend?"

"Well about three-." Jay started.

"Three days, six hours, and about twelve minutes." Annabeth finished.

Jay sighed and rubbed Annabeth's back like she was going to hurl.

"And you have no idea what happened to him?"

Annabeth shook her head miserably. "We were so excited, because we had both one on spring break early. We knew Jay was due back soon as well. We met up at camp on Tuesday, so I figured we had three weeks together. It was going to be great. Then, after the campfire, he-he kissed me goodnight and went back to his cabin. In the morning… he was gone. We searched the whole camp, we contacted his mom, Jay's sister tried using her magic to find him. We've tried just about every way we know how. Nothing. He just disappeared.

Piper made a mental note to finally ask what the heck the deal with Jay's sister was.

She was also thinking: _three days ago. _The same night she'd had the dream. "How long were you guys together?"

Jay snorted, "Ha should've been since they were twelve, considering they were making lovey dovey eyes at each other since then-."

He was cut off when Annabeth elbowed him in the stomach.

"Since August," Annabeth said. "August eighteenth."

"Almost exactly when I met Jason," Piper said. "But we've only been together a few weeks."

As soon as she said it, Piper wished she hadn't. A huge burst of pain erupted inside her head. She fell to her knees and saw a fuzzy vision in her eyes. Her and Jason sitting on-top of the roof at the wilderness school watching the meteor shower. She saw herself lean in and the two kissed. Piper remembered this memory; it was the night he finally agreed to be her boyfriend. It was a great memory, one of the best she'd ever had. However, soon the mist around the vision shifted and a new scene was in place.

She was on the roof; the meteor shower and stars were shining above just like the vision prior. Except, it wasn't Jason sitting next to her, it was Jay! His Minnesota Wild hoodie on, with shorts and Nikes. She didn't hear what was said, but she saw what happened. She shivered and rubbed her arms, so Jay took the hoodie off himself and offered it to her. She put it on and just like in the vision with Jason, she leaned in to kiss him, except… he didn't kiss her back. He looked frozen in shock for a millisecond and then got up, laughed nervously and offered his hand to help her up.

Two completely different memories, two different guys.

"Piper! Are you okay?" She heard Jay say.

Her vision cleared and Jay was above her, she clasped onto his hand and placed her other hand on her throbbing head.

"God, my head, what is going on?" She said painfully.

Jay helped her to her feet and sat her down on the rock Annabeth had been on. She looked up and saw the two staring at her.

Annabeth sighed. "Piper about that… about Jason. I think I know why your head has been bothering you."

Piper knew where this was going. Panic started building inside her, like her lungs were beginning to take on water. "Look I know Jason thought-he thought he just _appeared_ at our school today. But that's not true. I've known him for four months!"

"Pipes," Jay said sadly. "It's the mist,"

"Missed… what?"

"M-i-s-t," Annabeth said. "It's the sort of veil that separates the mortal world and the magic world. Regular mortals can't see through it to process what really exists. It bends reality so that it shows mortals what they _can _process. They may look at this valley and see it completely empty, they may look at that dragon and see a pile of cables."

"But you said it yourself. I'm not a regular mortal, I'm a demi-god!" She said.

Jay sighed, like the conversation was killing him. "Demi-gods aren't immune from the mist. We can see through it to see things for what they really are, but it can be used to trick even us. Jason he… he was planted on our bus by someone, someone with serious power over the mist. Monsters, gods, even some demigods with power over the mist can use it to create powerful illusions that fool even us demigods. They can create and alter memories from the mist itself."

Piper looked at him and her mouth went dry. Her headache, and the two little voices that had been arguing in her head were now gone. Memories started flooding back into her head like a dam had just been broken.

"But Jason isn't a monster!" Piper insisted. "He's a human, or demigod whatever you wanna call him. I do _not _have fake memories! Like the time we set Coach Hedge's pants on fire. The time Jason and I watched a meteor shower on top of the dorm roof, and I finally got the big idiot to kiss me…"

She saw Jay bit his lip and wince at that, but she ignored it. She went on to tell the two of them about her whole semester at Wilderness School. She'd liked Jason from the first week they'd met. He was so nice to her, and so patient, he could even put up with hyperactive Leo and his stupid jokes. He'd accepted her for herself and didn't judge her for the things she'd done. They'd spent hours talking, looking at the stars, and eventually _finally, _holding hands. All that _couldn't _be fake.

Jay bit his bottom lip so hard Piper saw that it broke the skin and started bleeding. He pursed his lips and sighed. "Pipes, most not _all _of those memories… they were me and you. Or me you and Leo over the last month."

She froze, she wanted to say something, but words eluded her. The memory of her and Jay on the rooftop, it burned into her brain playing over and over. The sadness and embarrassment she felt that night all came flooding back to her. She remembered being so sure that he liked her, but when he pulled away, she was devastated.

She shook her head not wanting to believe she had been given false memories.

"Piper your memories are sharper than most, I'll admit that, and I don't know why that is but. But if you know him so well-."

"I do!"

"Then where is he from?"

"St. Paul, Minnesota!" She fired back after thinking for a moment.

"Pipes… that's where I'm from." Jay said sadly.

Piper shook her head, and Annabeth asked more. "Did you ever notice his tattoo before today? Did he ever tell you anything about his parents, his friends, or anything about his old schools?"

"I-I don't know, but-."

"Piper, what's his last name?"

Her mind went blank. She didn't know Jason's last name. She broke down and started to cry. She sat on the rock with her face in her hands, she felt Jay sit next to her and put an arm around her. She leaned against him instinctively, and he rubbed her back while she cried. A whole four months of memories she had were fake.

"I… I'm sorry Pipes. Really I am." Jay said.

Piper felt like a fool. Was _everything _good in her stupid life going to ruin?

_Yes. _The voice had said. _You will betray them for us. You will do exactly as we say._

"Hey," Annabeth said. "Jason is here now. You never know, maybe you two will work out huh?" She said, trying to sound encouraging.

Not likely. Not after she did what the dream had told her to do. She looked at Jay, and she may have been going cray, but she saw a flicker of annoyance in his eyes at Annabeth's words. All the memories were flooding back to her head. The feelings, Jay, everything that had happened. She felt her heart begin to sink, she looked at Jay's reassuring face and all the feelings she had pent up for him came back to her, but now the feelings for Jason weren't leaving. It was the last thing she needed right now.

She brushed a tear from her cheek. "The two of you brought me up here so nobody would see me babbling, didn't you?" She asked.

Jay nodded his head and Annabeth did the same. "I figured it would be hard for you. I know what it's like to lose a boyfriend."

"But I still can't believe… I thought we had something. And now it's, just gone, like he doesn't even recognize me. If he really did just show up today, then why? How'd he get there? Why can't he remember everything?"

"Good questions," Annabeth said. "Hopefully Chiron can figure that out. But for now, we need to get you settled you ready to go back down?"

Piper looked down at the crazy assortment of cabins in the valley. Her new home, a family who supposedly understood her-but soon they'd just be another bunch of people she'd have to disappoint, just another place she'd be kicked out of. _You will betray them for us, _the voice had warned. _Or you'll lose everything._

She didn't have a choice.

"Yeah," She lied. "I'm ready."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

In an attempt to give Annabeth a break, Jay took over leading her tour. Annabeth walked next to them while Jay pointed out even more things Piper had missed. They passed a basketball court where a group of campers where in the middle of a game. They were nailing three-point shots, not even hitting the rim. Piper didn't know much about sports, but she knew those kids were making it look easy.

Jay chuckled when he saw her staring, "Those are some children of Apollo. They're great any kind of projectiles, bows, basketballs, the games are pretty high scoring." He told her.

"Wouldn't you have the same kind of ability then? Apollo and Artemis are archery god's, right?"

He nodded. "You bet; how do you think I'm so good at hockey?"

Piper remembered Jay telling her and Leo how he was a great hockey player at his previous school. She also did remember gym class, dodgeball was never fair for the team he was facing, basketball he could shoot with one eye open. There was also the one time they played floor hockey and every time he shot a ball it would be right into the corner of the net or between the goalie's legs. However, she couldn't get it out of her head that she barely knew anything about Jay, the real Jay at least.

"So, that's one thing that was actually true?" Piper said, not meaning to sound rude.

He sucked in a breath and sighed, "No, didn't lie about that. I would've been all state if I didn't miss a month."

Piper didn't say anything else, Jay clearly felt bad about lying to her and Leo, but she didn't want to press him now. They passed a large green clearing where what looked like a sword fighting lesson was going on. Two younger boys were going at each other, clashing swords and banging shields together while the girl with the golden armor watched with her arms crossed.

"Real blades?" Piper asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

Jay shrugged his shoulders. "That's kind of point." He stopped for a minute before keeling over and laughing at what he said.

"Idiot…" Annabeth muttered next to them, with a hint of amusement.

Piper couldn't help but laugh a little at his reaction. He finished laughing and came up wiping a tear from his eye.

"Hahaha, oh man bad pun sorry," He said. "But like I said, real blades are important for experience. Besides between the Apollo campers and Chiron, they can heal almost any injury."

Piper watched the lesson, the two young kids were clearly not very experienced with the swords, they couldn't be more then ten or eleven. The flailed their swords, both his each other in the stomach and fell.

The girl with the gold armor, however, didn't get angry. She simply smiled and helped the two young boys up off the ground. The other boys in the line laughed, and the two looked awfully embarrassed.

The girl, Piper remembered her name was Nikki picked up both their swords from the ground and returned them to the two campers.

"Contrary to what you may think, that wasn't horrible, I've seen much worse believe me." She said taking a few steps back.

The two campers lined back up and she pulled her golden sword from her back.

She swung it out in front of her like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"When you're fighting, the sword needs to be like an extension of your arm, part of it. Can you drop part of your arm?" She asked.

A bunch of quick 'No's' and headshakes came, and she nodded. "Exactly, so don't go flailing it around. Grip right under the handle, hold it tight and swing like an extension of your arm."

A flurry of questions came for the girl.

"Is it true you defeated Koios!?"

"Did you really go on a quest after your first week?"

"Were you afraid when you led the Battle of the Labyrinth!?"

"Is it true Percy and Jay trained you themselves!?"

She laughed and held her hands up for silence. "Save all questions for the end of the lesson, come on now, who wants to-."

A big buff voice came next. "Hey Nikki!"

Two larger boys, and one buff looking girl camp striding to the green. Annabeth sighed and Piper could practically hear her roll her eyes.

Jay snickered and pointed to the green. "Oh, this is gonna be good, watch this." He told her.

The one guy in the lead led his beefy friends right up to Nikki, who sheathed her sword and stood there with her arms crossed.

"Can I help you Andrew?" She said calmly.

He grunted and pointed off the green. "We got the green scheduled for practice, you need to get these little punks and clear out."

Nikki shook her head, she looked up at the sun. "Well, as a daughter of the sun god I can tell from the sun it is around 2:30? I have the green scheduled for my lessons until 3, after that it's fair game, but for now, I'm going to finish my lesson." She told him.

The girl grunted, "Ha, I don't know why you even bother. We saw them practicing, pathetic."

Some of the young campers shifted uncomfortably, some looked down in dismay. Piper would have been slightly intimidated by three giant older campers, all carrying swords and spear staring her down, but Nikki laughed and shook her head.

"We were all here at one-point Caitlynn. Now if you wanted to move your slot up, you should have had Clarisse come ask me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lesson to get back too." She told them.

"Here it comes…" Jay said expectantly.

"We ain't going anywhere!" Andrew said reaching out to grab Nikki's arm.

The girl must have been expecting this, because she whirled around, grabbed the boy's arm and twisted it behind his back. Andrew wailed out in pain as Nikki stood behind him holding his arm up. She held the arm in place and looked at her students.

"Now kids, lesson one, in a hostile situation always stay on alert, no matter who you're fighting they'll always look for an upper-hand, just like you should." She said before releasing Andrew arm and kicking him in the back and down to the ground.

Piper scoffed and opened her mouth in amazement.

"This is nothing," Jay said. "Just wait."

Andrew quickly got up from the ground and wiped his mouth of blood. He pulled his sword from his belt and pointed it at Nikki.

"We'll show you! Let's teach her a lesson!" He said to his friends.

Before she knew it, the other two unsheathed their weapons, the one boy with a javelin and shield, and Caitlyn with another sword.

Nikki pulled her sword back from her back and looked at her students. "Lesson two, when faced with multiple enemies, don't panic use your speed, and quick wits."

Andrew came barreling at Nikki like a bowling ball. He went to swing his sword at her, but Nikki quickly ducked underneath the strike and came up behind him whacking the back of his helmet with the flat of his blade and sent him sprawling to the ground again.

"Lesson number three, never go where your enemy leads you!" She said, sounding as if she was having fun now.

The two other campers camp at her, shields raised Nikki simply circled them, avoiding the shields until Caitlyn went swinging wildly trying to get Nikki to open up her guard, but she didn't. Nikki deflected the blow and slammed the hilt of her blade into the other girl's stomach, before sweeping her feet out from under her with the flat of her blade.

"Lesson four, the first lesson Percy ever taught me. Always control he tempo ad dictate the pace and speed of the fight!" She said happily.

The campers watched with open jaws and wide eyes, as Nikki swiftly turned, knocking the spear of the third boy down into the dirt, before slashing her sword down. The boys spear splintered in half, she wacked his shield from his hands and held her blade to his chest. The boy, rather smartly Piper thought, turned and ran away.

The group of students 'oh-ed' and 'aw'ed'. Nikki bowed and then quickly turn around when she heard Andrew come back up behind her. They clashed for a few moments in a bronze and gold whirlwind. Nikki finally got the opening and blocked a strike, lowered her sword to the hilt of Andrew's blade and performed a twisting flurry, and caused Andrew's blade to fly into the ground.

She held her blade up to Andrew's neck and smiled at him. "Now, you can have the green in," She looked up at the sun. "twenty-seven minutes, because that fight took a whole three." She said tapping the boy's armor.

Andrew collected Caitlyn from the ground and ran away with her. The young campers swarmed Nikki, begging her to teach them that move. She laughed and started instructed again.

Piper was absolutely blown away. She had just watched a girl her age single handily sword fight and take down three kids twice her size. How could Piper ever compete with that? The more she saw the more amazed, would she soon learn how to do that? Could she learn how to do it? The one camper said Jay had trained Nikki, would it even be possible, with what the dream had said?

"I… don't think I'll be able to do that," She said to him. "That was incredible."

Jay smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder, and it send a hot jolt down her back. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Pipes, everyone thinks that at first. You'll be a warrior in no time, speaking of which… Annabeth what do you say we go find her a weapon of her own?" He asked the blonde.

Annabeth nodded, "He's right Piper, everyone at camp is a warrior in some way. We all excel at different things. Come on, follow us, we'll get you set up with a weapon."

They went and passed more cabins, one with a large owl on the outside. One had a sun on the front, and she saw the one with the boar's head and barbed wire. The passed cabin 8, it glowed with silver, like the color of a moonlight.

"My humble abode." Jay said as the three of them passed.

Piper could see inside, and only one bed was inside. It was completely spotless, with only one dressed lined with picture frames, and a few spare shorts and shirts, but otherwise it was immaculate. They led her to what seemed like an old shed that looked like it was meant for gardening tools. Annabeth unlocked it and inside were _not _gardening tools, unless you wanna make war on some tomato plants. The shelves were lined with weapons from swords and bows, to clubs like Coach Hedge's.

"Every demigod needs a weapon." Jay said, wading into the racks of weapons examining them all.

"Athena's all about strategy-matching the right weapon to the right person. Let's see…"

Piper didn't exactly feel like shopping for deadly objects, but she knew Jay and Annabeth were trying to do something nice for her.

Jay handed her a massive sword which Piper could barely hold.

"No," The three said at once.

Annabeth did a little more rummaging and pulled out something else.

"A shotgun?" Her and Jay said at once.

"Mossberg 500." Annabeth checked the pump action like it was no big deal. "Don't worry. It doesn't harm mortals. It's been modified to shoot celestial bronze, so it only kills monsters."

"Um, I don't think that's my style," Piper said.

"Mmm, yeah," Annabeth agreed. "Too flashy."

She rummaged through the racks of crossbows. Jay was fiddling with some old bows. She couldn't imagine being very good with a bow considering how awful she was at basketball in gym class. He was looking through the racks of crossbows when something in the corner of the shed caught Piper's eye.

"What is that?" She said. "A knife?"

Jay dug it out and blew the dust off the scabbard. It looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in centuries. Jay and Annabeth looked at each other skeptically.

"I don't know Piper," Annabeth sounded uneasy. "I don't think you want this one. Swords are usually better."

"You use a knife. And Jay uses two of them." She said, pointing to the one strapped to Annabeth's belt, and Jay's belt buckle.

"Yeah, but…" She trailed off.

Jay shrugged his shoulders. "Eh let's let her try it out Annabeth. No harm in it, here you go Pipes."

The sheath was worn black leather, bound in bronze. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy. The polished wood handle felt beautiful in Piper's hand. When she unsheathed it, she found a triangular blade eighteen inches in length, they were a little shorter than the ones Jay used, the bronze gleamed like it had just been cleaned yesterday. The edges were deadly sharp. Her reflection in the blade caught her by surprise. She looked older, more serious, not as scared as she felt.

"It suits you." Annabeth said.

"Daggers like these were carried by high ranking officers in the Greek army. They were a symbol of status, that you were a person of power. It was a symbol yes, but it was plenty good in a fight." She explained to Piper.

"I like it," Piper said. "Why didn't you think it was right?"

Jay bit back his lip and Annabeth rubbed the back of her head. "That blade has a complicated history. Most people would be afraid to claim it. Its previous owner… things didn't turn out well for her. Her name was Helen."

Piper let that sink in. "You mean _the _Helen?"

Annabeth and Jay both nodded, and Piper suddenly felt like she should be handling the dagger with surgical gloves. "And it's just sitting in your tool shed?"

Jay shrugged his shoulders. "We're surrounded by Ancient Greek Stuff."

"We're not a museum. A weapon like that, it's meant to be used. It's our heritage as demigods. That was a wedding present to Helen from her first husband Menelaus. What was it called again Annabeth? Kat-something?" He told her encouragingly.

"Katoptris, that's what it's called." Annabeth said.

"Meaning?" Piper asked.

"Mirror," Annabeth said. "It's a fitting name, considering that was all Helen used it for. It's never seen battle."

"I bet that'll change before long. Congrats Pipes, if you want, I'll show you some moves with that thing later on." Jay told her with a huge smile.

Piper felt her face get hot. She remembered something one of the young students had said to Nikki out on the green. 'Didn't Percy and Jay train you themselves?'. Would she be able to take out three armed fighters at a time? She liked the idea of Jay training with her. If she was going to enjoy herself before having to betray everyone… at least she wanted to learn to fight perhaps.

Piper looked at the blade again. For a moment her reflection changed, She saw flames and grotesque faces. Her dad was tied up in chains, tied to a post in front of a roasting bonfire. She heard the same laughter she had heard in the dream.

She dropped the blade.

"Piper, Pipes, are you alright!?" Jay said holding her shoulders up as her knees buckled.

"Medic! We need some help over here!" Annabeth yelled.

"No, it's-it's okay." She said grabbing hold on Jay's hand on her shoulder.

She locked eyes with him. Her eyes met his, and for a moment she felt her body go into overdrive. If she saw herself outside, she would have guessed her face was completely red. Jay stared into her eyes as well, she saw a small red hue appear in his upper cheek, he looked like he was trying to look down into her heart. Speaking of the heart she felt like her would implode.

But in what felt like after ten seconds he shuddered and moved his eyes away from hers. He helped her steady himself and looked away with his face looking embarrassed.

Suddenly Piper felt like she was on top of the roof of Wilderness School with him again. She felt like a bomb had gone off in her stomach. Annabeth looked between the two of them cautiously.

"Are you sure you were okay Piper? You looked pretty pale just then." Annabeth said concernedly.

"Yeah I just…" She had to control herself. With trembling fingers, she reached down and picked up the dagger. "I just got so overwhelmed, but I'd like to keep the dagger, if that's okay."

Annabeth looked to Jay and they both nodded. "No problem Pipes, and like I said I'll train you myself." He said with a smile.

Annabeth waived off the Apollo kids who had came over. She looked at her and nodded. "If you say so Piper. You looked really pale for a moment."

Piper nodded her head. Every bit of her body was starting to ache. She looked at Jay and nodded her head.

"Yeah… I'm fine. Does… does the camp have a phone? So, I can call my dad?" She asked.

It was time to see if the dream really had come true.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"We started with twelve cabins for the twelve Olympian gods." Annabeth explained. "Then after this summer we added whole bunch of cabins for the other gods who don't have thrones. Nemesis, Hades, Iris, Hecate-." At those words she looked up and Jay who was walking ahead of them.

Piper wondered what the deal was but ignored the feeling for now.

"And the two big ones on the end?" She asked.

"Zeus and Hera." Annabeth explained, frowning at the mention of Hera.

Piper headed that way catching up with Jay. Annabeth followed even though she didn't seem very excited. The Zeus cabin reminded Piper of a bank, it was made of white marble with large columns out front and a polished bronze door with lightning bolt designs on it.

Hera's cabin was smaller but done in the same style, except the door was design sort of like peacock feather designs, shimmering different colors. Unlike all the other cabins that had the doors swung open and were bustling with activity, the Zeus and Hera cabins were silent.

"Are they empty?" Piper asked.

Jay and Annabeth both nodded. "Zeus went a long time without having any children. Well, mostly. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades the elder brothers amongst the gods-they're called the 'Big Three'. Their kids are really dangerous and powerful, really dangerous. For the last seventy years or so they've tried to avoid having any demi-god children."

"_Tried _to avoid it?"

Annabeth looked over at Jay, who's face had fallen dark. His eyes were looking down at his shoes and he couldn't meet Piper's eyes. Something seemed to have clicked inside him, and now it was like a machine had shut down. He managed to look up at Annabeth and give a small nod before she continued.

"Sometimes they… cheated. We've got a friend, Thalia who's a daughter of Zeus. She gave up camp life and became a Hunter of Artemis. My boyfriend Percy, he's a son of Poseidon. And… there's another kid who comes around, his name is Nico, he's a son of Hades. Except for them, there are no children of the Big Three gods, at least that we know of." She explained.

She didn't fail to notice Jay's head somehow fall even lower at the mention of this Nico person. She made a note to ask him later, but for now she looked over at Hera's cabin.

"And Hera?" She asked.

"Goddess of Marriage." Annabeth said in a controlled tone, like she was trying to control herself from cursing. "She doesn't have kids with anyone but Zeus, so no demigod children. The cabin is just honorary."

"You don't like her?"

Jay laughed next to her, seemingly recovered from his bout of sadness. "HA, don't like is an understatement."

Annabeth shot him a glare and he quickly shut up before she turned to Piper.

"We have a long history." She said. "I thought we had made peace, but then she sent me a vision in a dream the other night."

"Telling you to come get us." Piper said. "You thought you would find Percy there."

Jay looked at his friend with a sympathetic look. Annabeth's head fell for a moment but then perked back up.

"It's probably best not to talk about it." Annabeth said. "I've got nothing to good to say about Hera right now."

Piper looked down at the base of the doors, and it seemed Jay had already found something. "So, who goes in there?" She asked.

Annabeth looked at her confused. "Nobody, it's honorary like I-."

"Um, Annabeth? We may have a problem." Jay said moving out of the way.

Footsteps led into the cabin from the dust that had been there, and it was slightly ajar.

"It looks like someone is visiting Hera." Jay said pressing his wrist charm. His silver bow appeared in his hands. "I swear if this is Connor and Travis with another prank…"

Piper instinctively stepped passed Jay and went to push the door open, and they swung open easily. Annabeth stepped back with Jay. "Piper I don't think-."

"We're supposed to do demigod stuff right?" Piper said, and she walked inside.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The Hera cabin wasn't a place Piper would want to have her birthday party yet. There were no beds, no furniture, only a furnace, an altar and a giant statue of the goddess Hera. Ten feat tall, with golden flowing robes sitting in a throne. It wasn't what Piper expected a statue of the goddess of marriage to look like. It was brightly painted, if it was normal height it would have passed for human. The cabin reminded Piper of a tomb.

No, this wasn't her mom, Piper could at tell that much. She hadn't come in here because she felt a good connection, but rather because her sense of dread felt stronger here. Her dream, that horrible premonition she had- it felt connected to this cabin in some way. The dream was connected to this cabin.

She froze after taking a few steps, they weren't alone. In front of the altar, kneeling was a person with the hood of a black shawl up. Their hands were up, surely in a prayer to Hera or some god, Piper could hear chanting.

Jay came up behind her first and gasped. "Rachel!?" He said.

The other girl turned around and her shawl hood dropped. It revealed a head of curly red hair and a freckly face of a girl no more then a year older the Piper. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans with multiple marker drawings on them. Despite the cold floor, she was barefoot.

"Hey, Jay, Annabeth!" She said before running and hugging both of them. "I'm so sorry! I came as fast as I could." She said.

"Holy Hades Rachel, what're you doing in here, you almost got an arrow to the head!" Jay said smiling at the girl.

The three talked for a while about Percy Jackson. How there had been no news, and they were still searching, before Jay remembered Piper was in the room.

"We're being rude sorry. Rachel this is Piper one of the half-bloods we rescued today." Jay apologized. "Piper this is Rachel Dare, our Oracle."

"The one who lives in the cave?" Piper asked.

Rachel grinned. "That's me!"

"So, you're an oracle?" Piper asked. "So, you can tell the future?"

"More like the future mugs me from time to time." Rachel said. "I speak prophecies. The oracle's spirit kind of takes me over and speaks really important stuff that nobody can understand. But yeah, the prophecies tell the future."

"Oh," Piper shifted from foot to foot. "That's cool."

Rachel laughed. "Don't worry, everybody finds it creepy at first. Even me. Most of the time I'm harmless."

"You're a demigod?"

"Nope," Rachel said. "100% mortal."

"Then what are you…" Piper gestured around a cabin.

Rachel's smiled faded and she looked to Annabeth and Jay. "Just a hunch. Something about this cabin and Percy's disappearance. They're connected somehow, I just know it. I've learned to follow my hunches, especially this last month since the gods went silent."

"Went silent?" Piper said, looking at Jay and Annabeth.

Rachel frowned at the two. "You haven't told her yet?"

"We were getting to that." Annabeth said. "Piper, for the last month… well. It's normal for gods not to talk to their demigod children very much but…" She said looking to Jay.

He sighed. "But usually we always get signs, messages now and then. My mom for instance always sends a sign that she's watching me, sometimes she even visits me. The other gods do similar things but… lately we haven't heard anything. No messages, no signs, nothing. Nobody knows why. It's like the gods have ghosted us. Even my mother doesn't answer my prayers, our camp director Dionysus he was recalled-."

"Your camp director is the god of… wine?" She asked.

"Yeah it's a-."

"Long story," Piper guessed. "Right. Go on."

"That's it really." Annabeth explained. "Demigods still get claimed but no signs, messages anything. It's like something bad happened, only bad things happen when the gods go silent… then Percy disappeared."

"And Jason showed up on our field trip." Piper supplied. "With no memories."

"Who's Jason?" Rachel asked.

"My-." Piper stared to say. Her chest hurt when she almost said, 'my boyfriend'. "My friend. My friend. But Annabeth you said Hera sent you a vision."

"Right." Annabeth said. "Th first communication with a god in a month, and it's Hera. The least helpful goddess and she contacts me, her least favorite demigod. She tells me I'll find what happened to Percy if I go to the Grand Canyon and looked for a guy with one shoe. Instead I find you guys, and the guy with one shoe is Jason. It doesn't make sense."

"Something bad is happening." Rachel agreed. She looked at Piper, and she felt an overwhelming desire to tell them everything. Tell them about the dream, tell them she knew what was happening, at least her part of the story. And the bad stuff was only beginning.

"Guys," Piper said. "I-I need to-."

Before she could continue, Rachel's body stiffened. Her eyes began to glow a green color, and she grabbed Piper by the shoulders.

_Free me, _she said. But it wasn't Rachel's voice. It sounded like the voice of an older women, speaking from somewhere long away.

"Rachel! Let her go, what's going on!" Jay said trying to pry Rachel away from Piper.

Jay tried to pry Rachel off Piper's shoulders, but it was in vein. _Free me Piper McLean, or the earth shall swallow us. It must be by the solstice!_

"Enough, Rachel let go!" Jay yelled as he and Annabeth tried still in vein to pry Rachel away from Piper.

The room started spinning, Piper didn't know now if she was awake or dreaming. The giant statue of the goddess seemed to rise from her throne. It leaned over Piper, it's eyes boring into her. The statue's mouth opened, its breath like horribly thick perfume. It spoke in the same echoing voice. _Our enemies stir. The fiery one is only the first. Bow to his will and their king shall rise, dooming us all FREE ME!_

Piper's knee buckled and she fell to the ground.

"PIPER! No, I got you!" Was the last thing she heard Jay yell, before everything went black.

**A/N: Hey everyone, I'm sorry this chapter took about an extra week then normally to upload, this chapter was much longer and harder to get out. However, I really hope that you guys enjoyed what I had to offer this chapter! There will probably be a few typos initially since I'm doing this past midnight and I am extremely tired lol. **

**So, what do you think of the new badass Nikki!? What about seeing thins from Piper's perspective. How is it finally seeing Jay from outside his POV!? I promise the next chapter will be much shorter in terms of release time. I love Leo but his chapters won't be as prevalent in this fic since his story won't be changed too much with Jay in the picture. However, the supersized Mcshizzle will get his chapter, we will learn more about him and Jay along with seeing how Gwen Stacey has been doing in her first few months at camp! I hope you guys are excited. **

**That's it! Please, please leave a review and let me know how you're liking this so far! See you all next time, have an awesome day!**


	5. Leo I

**The First Son of Artemis Book Four: The Lost Hero**

**Leo I**

Leo's tour was going great until he learned about the dragon. Even after the girl Gwen had told him that his old babysitter really hadn't been near the campfire, he was still having a great time. Arts and crafts classes where you make your own swords and deadly explosives? Awesome! Sword fighting lessons. Sign him up! There were so many different things he saw in his mind that he could make and mend into new machines and creations, every time he saw something he found himself saying 'oh I could use that' or 'the things I could make with that'. He wanted to take every little nut and bolt he saw and show them into his pockets. He'd need a lot more then two pockets for all the stuff he saw.

Not to mention the camp was overflowing with fine looking girls. He hoped the whole 'related to the gods business, didn't mean he was cousins with all these ladies. In particular he was thinking about that girl with the gold armor and sword, or those girls in the bottom of the lake, they were definitely worth drowning for.

Gwen showed him the dining pavilion, the cabins, and the sword arena.

"Do I get a sword, or maybe a spear like you?" He asked Gwen.

Gwen looked at him like the idea was disturbing to her, it was the same look Leo got from old teachers whenever he went near the pencil sharpener, or a lit flame.

"Well, seeing as your in cabin 9, you'll probably get to make your own. They made my spear; they can craft some great stuff there." She told him.

Leo examined the spear on Gwen's back. It was probably as long as Leo, with a wicked sharp bronze point, with a long shaft of bronze wrapped in black leather, with an equally sharp looking point at the opposite end. The more he stared at it, the more he decided he shouldn't make the girl mad.

"Yeah, what's up with that? Vulcan?" He asked her.

"We usually don't use the Roman names of the gods; your father is Hephaestus." She told him, moving her choppy platinum hair out of her eyes.

"Festus?" Leo said. "He sounds like the god of cowboys."

"He-phaestus," Gwen corrected. "He's the god of blacksmiths and fire."

Leo had heard that too, but he was trying not to think about it. The god of fire… seriously? Considering what happened to his mom that seemed like some cruel joke.

"So, the flaming hammer over my head? Good or bad thing?" Leo asked.

Gwen took a while to answer, her stormy grey eyes were like a storm front rolling in. Leo thought she was cute, but he had a hard time getting past her eyes. They were a pretty color, but they always looked as if Gwen was thinking of a way to take him down to the ground with her spear and shield.

"You were claimed almost immediately. That's usually good. You were a little old for it, the gods are supposed to claim us by the time were thirteen. Sometimes it takes another year or two, like it did for me, and you." She explained to him.

"But that Rainbow Pony dude, Butch-he mentioned a curse."

Gwen twirled a loose strand of her hair. "Ah… look it's nothing. I don't believe in curses; I think they're an excuse that people use for problems they can't solve. However, since Cabin Nine's last head counselor died-."

"Died? Like painfully?"

"I wasn't here yet when he passed, but I've heard the stories. I'd ought to let your cabin mates tell you." She told him.

"Yeah, where _are _my home dawgs? Shouldn't their counselor be giving me the VIP tour?"

Gwen seemed to wince at his question. "He, um, is kinda of indisposed right now. You'll see why." She told him, moving on before Leo could ask questions.

"Curses and death," Leo muttered. "This keeps getting better and better."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Gwen had led him across the green, where an arrow almost hit him in the head, and they had to maneuver around kids hacking at each other with swords, spear, axes, and other instruments of death. Gwen was almost across the green when Leo spotted the girl again. Her golden armor shone in the sun, so bright Leo almost felt the urge to look away, but after he caught a look of her face he certainly was not. He finally got his first good look at her as they passed by.

She was tall, and slender, and moved with the grace of a dancer, her sword moving like she was born with it in her hand. Her golden armor covered an orange camp half-blood t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. Her hair was bright blonde with streaks of light brown, which without he might have mistaken her for Annabeth. Her eyes were a shimmering icy blue, with light freckles dancing across the bridge of her nose.

She was overlooking two boys practicing with swords, when she saw Gwen and Leo walking by, she called out to them.

"Hey Gwen, we still good for tonight?" She yelled over.

Gwen nodded eagerly. "You bet!" She told the girl.

Nikki nodded with a smile and looked back to her students. Gwen smiled as she gestured for Leo to follow.

"So, what's going on tonight? Can I come?" He asked jokingly, still looking back at Nikki who was demonstrating a technique.

Gwen looked back and seemed to catch Leo staring, and much to his displeasure she laughed.

She managed to compose herself, but Leo saw she was trying to suppress giggles, "Ha, I'd be careful if I were you, unless you wanna lose a finger."

Leo squinted his eyes to see the look of amusement on Nikki's face as the student she had showed the move to, didn't get it right and tripped over his own feet. Gwen's words had got him down. He was an idiot, of course a girl as pretty as her had to have a boyfriend.

"Alright, who is it?" He sighed in disappointment, turning to Gwen. "Which one of these giant dudes is her boyfriend? Or would the whole finger chopping come from her?"

Gwen laughed, which Leo was happy about, he loved making people laugh.

She shook her head. "She… doesn't have a boyfriend currently. Well, she did but… um, well they…uhhh…" She trailed off as if she regretted bringing it up.

"They, uhhh what? Come on, I gotta know these things!" Leo joked.

Gwen bit her lip and sighed. "Well it's really not my place to say but…" She looked back as if to make sure Nikki wasn't listening, before leaning back in. "She dated… Jay for a few weeks a month or two ago I think?"

Leo was stunned. He didn't know what the whole deal with Jason and his false memories were, but he would have liked to believe that every minute he spent getting to know Jason Nicholson was true. Jay and Leo both shared a sarcastic sense of humor which made them friends right away. He could tell that he as well, tried to use humor to shove the pain he was feeling down away inside of him. If you were always laughing, it was easier for the pain to stay away. He had one thing that Leo didn't have however, and that was the looks of apparently a Greek god. Every single girl in the wilderness school wanted to get to know Jason Nicholson better, but he turned them all down. The only girl he hung out with was Piper. Before Jason apparently came into the picture, Leo was almost sure those two were into each other.

The puzzled look on his face must have shocked Gwen. "What, what is it?" She asked him.

Leo shrugged his shoulders, "I guess that just kinda shocks me a little. Jay I always thought was into our friend Piper. So, this was before he came to school with us?" He asked.

Gwen nodded her head. "Yeah, Jay's never told me anything about it, but Nikki has. She liked him for a while, she fell for him during the Titan War. After it was over, a few months after the two tried dating." She explained.

Leo ignored the whole 'Titan War' comment, he assumed he would learn more about that later. However, he was intrigued now he remembered the strange look that Nikki and Jay had given each other at the lake.

"But… it didn't work out? What happened, doesn't seem they like each other very much?" He asked her.

"Oh no," Gwen said shaking her head. "They still live together at Jay's place in Brooklyn with his sister and their… guardian, that's a different story, but no they're still good friends. Some people have given them the nicknames, 'the twins reborn'." Gwen said with admiration.

Before Leo could even ask what, the nickname meant Gwen explained it for him. He got the sense she was the kind of girl who loved explaining things.

"You know how Apollo and Artemis are twins right, two of the most powerful Olympians?" She asked, continuing before he could respond. "Well, Jay's the son of Artemis, Nikki is the daughter of Apollo, they're an insane fighting force!" She gushed.

Leo could hardly believe his friend was THAT powerful, but since he revealed everything to them, he felt he hardly knew the guy.

"So, they seem like they'd be a good match then, what happened between them?" He asked the platinum blonde.

She looked nervous again, like suddenly she was unable to talk. "Well Jay you see he… he was still in love with someone else, someone who's gone now. He didn't think it was fair to Nikki to be dating her while he was still in love with someone else," She said. "He broke it off with her, really abruptly, told Nikki that he only thought of her as a sister, and couldn't bring himself to be any more with her. She was okay with it of course, but… a little angry he led her on like he did."

Leo wondered who Jay could possibly still be in love with. From the way he acted around Piper it seemed like the guy was afraid to have feelings for someone. There were times the last month at school where Piper would try to grab his hand, and the guy would freeze up and pull away. He knew it was killing Piper, because from what her and Leo gathered, he really did like her back, but just wouldn't act on it.

He had no idea what the situation would be like now that Piper was dating Jason. Jason was apparently really had just shown up. Leo was not looking forward to what this would all lead too. However, he had the overwhelming urge to know more about Jay. Leo considered the guy one of his best-friends, so he asked the question as they passed more cabins.

"So, Gwen you seem to know an awful lot." Leo said.

Gwen seemed pleased, and smiled, "Well daughter of the wisdom goddess at your service. We tend to know things."

"Right," Leo said. "So, what can you tell me about Jay? The demi-god side of him that is."

Gwen's eyes seemed to light up at the opportunity. "He saved my life; I'm always going to owe him a debt for that. Him, Percy, Annabeth, Nikki, his sister Alex, they're all the ones who saved me and brought me to camp." She started.

She continued on before Leo could comment. "He's a legend here in camp. He's fought Titans, Gods, all kinds of monsters, and has saved us more times than we can count. Him, Percy Jackson, and Annabeth, they all actually _fought _Kronos, and actually _won_! I wasn't here for the Titan War, but apparently Jay and Percy, they both beat a legion of hundreds of monsters themselves on the Williamsburg Bridge and then-."

Leo held up his hands to stop, "Okay, okay I think I get it. From the way you talk about him, it seems like you're into him yourself." He told Gwen.

Gwen laughed nervously and seemed flushed with embarrassment. "Well, you see I went to school with him before I figured out, I was a demigod. There was a time when… yes, I had feelings for him. They're gone now though; I see him as a brother I never had." She started, with admiration in her tone. "I don't really see us together, besides he's one of the big five, I don't think I'd stand a chance."

Leo scrunched his eyebrows. "Uhh, the big five? Is that some kind of club?" He asked.

Gwen shook her head. "No, it's just a term us campers use. The 'Big Five' are the five most powerful demi-gods of this generation, our camp leaders. You have Percy a son of Poseidon, Annabeth daughter of Athena," She said with a hint of pride. "Jay the first and only son Artemis, Nikki daughter of Apollo, and a guy named Nico D'Angelo a son of Hades."

Leo didn't know too much about Greek mythology, but he knew they were some of the most powerful gods. He also remembered how huge those cabins had been when Gwen had shown them to him. The 'Big Five' seemed like a pretty sweet group to get placed in, Leo wondered if he could ever get placed in a group like that, unlikely, but crazier things had happened.

He whistled appreciatively. "Man, that sounds like a pretty powerful group to be apart of, so like do member rotate in and out of it or…"

Gwen shook her head. "No, it's not an actual club, just a way us camper show our admiration. It used to be the 'Big Seven' believe it or not. I've never met them, but a girl named Thalia, a daughter of Zeus was part of that group, but she became a Hunter of Artemis and left camp." She said. "And then there was Bianca D'Angelo."

"Is she that Nico guy's sister?" He asked her.

Gwen looked nervous but nodded. "Yeah, she was a daughter of Hades, _seriously _powerful. Her and her brother, I heard that they saved the camp from a huge invasion by themselves one time. She killed _Kampe_ freaking _Kampe_!" She gushed.

Leo had no idea who Kampe was, but he let Gwen continue.

"She killed _Kampe_ and dragged her soul right down into Tartarus! She was really one of the most powerful demigods of this generation. I'M going to have achievements like that one day." She said wistfully, patting the shield and spear on her back.

Leo stopped on one word she said. "Um… you said she _was?_"

Gwen stopped in her tracks again and her face fell. "Yeah… I didn't know her, like I said I wasn't here during the Titan War, but… I know enough. Bianca she… she died in the Battle of Olympus."

Leo's eyes widened. "Died? Like, painfully?" He asked again.

Gwen bit her lip. "Bianca's death… is one of the things were not allowed to openly talk about. Jay he… he still hasn't-." She caught herself and stared daggers at Leo.

"Don't tell _anyone_ that I've told you about this, do you understand!?" She said to him, the spear point on her spear suddenly got a LOT sharper to Leo.

He nodded quickly and she backed away. "Good, now come on. It's about time I bring you to Jake over in Cabin Nine, it's time for you to get settled in." She said.

Leo followed along, silently for once. He couldn't help thinking now even more about his friend Jay. Gwen was about to mention how he was connected to Bianca D'Angelo, and how she died. He cared about Jay, he always had this look of sadness deep in his eyes however, Leo could only hope he didn't turn out like that, losing so much because of this new demigod business.

Maybe one day _he _would make the 'Big Five' the 'Big Six'.

Or maybe he would end up like Bianca D'Angelo.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The Hephaestus cabin looked like a giant metal RV. On the inside it was like the workshop Leo always dreamed about. Tools, weapons, blow torches, everything he could think of lined the walls and bunks. It almost gave him a nosebleed his mind was moving so fast, thinking of all the things that he could do with the tools assembled here.

"Jake? Are you awake?" Gwen called out as Leo looked on in awe.

A groaning voice called back, and Leo heard the whirring of a machine and from the center of the room, a pole like a fireman's came down. Leo's eyes widened when a boy in a full body cast in wheelchair came off. Only his face was visible and he kind of reminded Leo of the Pillsbury doughboy all grown up. He looked over at Gwen and a faint smile came to his face.

"Oh, hey Gwen. How's the spear treating you?" He asked her.

Gwen smiled and tapped her spear. "Doing great Jake thanks, how are you feeling?" She asked him.

Jake looked like he was trying to shrug his shoulders but couldn't. "Oh, you know, the pain comes and goes."

Gwen nodded but looked like the sight of Jake made her own bones hurt. She turned and gestured to Leo. "Jake this is Leo. Butch, Annabeth, and Jay just brought him in, Leo this is your head counselor Jake."

"What's up?" Leo said, trying to give the poor boy a smile.

Jake nodded and Leo could see him trying to smile again. "It's nice to meet you Leo, I'd shake your hand but…" He trailed off.

Leo shook his head. "No, you're good man. Don't get up."

Jake nodded and Gwen spoke up again. "So, I'm guessing you have a bed for Leo right Jake?" She asked.

Jake nodded his whole body. "Yeah, you bet I do. I'll give you the best bunk in the cabin, first… do you believe in curses Leo?"

Considering the fact Leo had just seen his old babysitter that had tried to kill him when he was younger, Leo wasn't too sure. However, he wasn't going to let them see that.

"Curses? I eat curses for breakfast haha show me what you got." He said with a laugh.

"Good, in that case like I said I'll give you the best bed in the whole cabin. Beckendorf's." He said.

Gwen stiffened. "Jake, are you sure?"

Jake looked like he tried to shrug again. He called out a command sequence and the bunk folded down from one side of the room. After being thoroughly satisfied with his new arrangements, Leo smiled. He paled when Jake mentioned how the previous owner of this bed had died, but he wasn't going to turn down a bunk like this. After finally climbing out, Jake told Gwen that the rest of the cabin was down at the forges, working on the 'problem.' Leo was curious so he didn't argue when Gwen led him back out of the cabin so Jake could get some rest.

However, when the two of them stepped outside, they both froze when they heard the yelling.

"MEDIC, I NEED A MEDIC! NIKKI, NIKKI!" Yelled the distinct voice of Jason Nicholson.

Gwen reached her hand to the shaft of her spear instinctively and Leo looked back across the green. In the distance, Leo saw Jay, moving faster then he had ever seen him move before. His friend routinely made the ten miles runs in gym class look like a breeze, but Leo had no idea he was this fast. His legs were moving so fast Leo could hardly see them move! He had something in his arms, but from that distance Leo couldn't see what, or who it was.

Back on the green Nikki, he saw Nikki whirl around, almost slashing a new camper with her sword on accident. She saw Jay running across the green, quickly turned to her students, muttered some words and took off after Jay towards the big house on the hill. She stashed her sword back across her back and started moving with blinding speed as well. He turned to Gwen.

"What's going on?" He asked urgently.

Gwen shook her head. "Not sure… someone must be hurt if he's calling Nikki when Chiron is already at the Big House."

"Should we head over there?" He asked her.

Gwen thought for a moment and then shook her head. "No… no it should be fine. Chiron and Nikki need room to heal them anyway, so we'd be asked to leave. I'm sure it's alright, between the two of them, whoever is hurt will be alright." She assured him.

Despite the worry still boiled up in his chest, Leo nodded, and he followed Gwen towards the sound of hammers clanging on metal.

**A/N: Hey everyone! I am sorry this update took a little longer, due to labor day weekend here in the US I had a rough week of work and found it hard to do anything except lay down and sleep when I wasn't at work xD However, I'm at school now, so I'm working less and unless its an exam week I should be back to a normal update schedule!**

**I know this chapter is like WAY shorter then what I usually put out, but it only was here for the purpose of finally seeing what other campers think of Jay and the events of the previous series. I know we didn't get much of Leo being Leo, but don't worry we'll have plenty of that. **

**Gwen is one of my favorite OC's! One of these days I'm gonna be writing a few short stories, because as you'll learn she's well on her way to being a powerful hero. She also gives us some insight on what the campers think of Jay, Nikki and the other main characters! We also finally learn what the deal with Jay and Nikki is… don't worry more will be elaborated on. **

**So what do you think of the 'Big Five'? What about Gwen? Or how we heard more about Leo, Piper and Jay's connection!? Let me know in a review, and expect the next chapter a lot faster then this one, I'll see you all soon!**


	6. Jay III

**The First Son of Artemis Book 4: The Lost Hero**

**Jay III**

"MEDIC, I NEED A MEDIC," He shouted with the unconscious girl in his arms, he looked down towards the green and saw Nikki. "NIKKI, NIKKI!"

He saw Nikki whirl around, almost decapitating one of her students before locating him. She seemed to see what was going on, because she sheathed her sword and took off in a run towards him and the Big House. He readjusted Piper's body and felt her shallow breathing on his neck.

"Not again, not again…" He said spurring his legs on as fast as he could.

Jay had always been the fastest person he knew. He remembered when he battled the Manticore in Maine, during the quest to rescue Nikki from Westover Hall. When he was younger, he had to be under the moon or in the forest to gain his full speed, however as the years went on as with all his abilities his speed grew. He urged his feet forward, the run from the Hera cabin up the hill to the Big House wasn't far, and in reality, Jay probably only took a minute to get there. His feet however felt like they were moving through quicksand. He left Annabeth and Rachel in the dust, he collected Piper into his arms and took off.

When he got to the deck of the Big House, he wasted no time in plowing through the door to the living room.

"CHIRON!" He yelled.

Chiron was in wheelchair form, sitting across from Jason who looked pale. As soon as he saw Piper in his arms however he shot to his feet.

"Jay, what happened child!?" Chiron asked frantically.

Jay as gently as he could laid Piper's head down onto the couch. He turned to Chiron and Jason, his knee's all but clacking together.

"I… I don't know, we were in the Hera cabin, Rachel started spouting a prophecy-." He was cut off by the door swinging open again.

"Jay what-. Oh gods." Nikki said pressing the center of her necklace.

Her armor and sword retracted into the amulet of the sun, she was wearing a pair of joggers and her camp shirt. Her loose ponytail almost fell apart when she knelt down next to Piper. She looked over at Chiron and the two nodded. Chiron rolled into his room to retrieve his medical supplies as Jay slumped into a rocking chair.

"What's wrong with her!?" Jason asked frantically kneeling down next to Nikki.

Nikki shot him an uneasy glance. "I don't know, but I need space, take Jay and get out of here." She ordered Jason.

"But-."

"Do what I said!" She demanded.

Jay could hear the edge to Nikki's voice, it was clear that she wasn't asking him.

"Hold up Nik, there's no way I'm-."

"Don't you start with me too Jay, I know exactly what's going on in your head right now, she'll be fine. Chiron and I will take care of her, now go!" She demanded of him.

Jay didn't want to leave, but felt himself being pulled away by Jason, who seemed to understand that Nikki was not someone you wanted to make angry. You would end up with a sword wound in your gut and a nasty sunburn. Before he could blink, Jay was pulled out of the living room, just as Annabeth and Rachel darted in, and Jay felt his knees finally give out. He keeled over onto one kneel and held onto the railing to keep from faceplanting.

_I'm not worried Jay, I'm with you._

_ She was so confident, so confident you would protect her._

_ Jay… I don't… I don't want to die, please… Jay._

"Jay, you okay man?" Jason asked coming up next to him.

Jay took his hand and he managed to steady himself. He leaned over the balcony and looked out over the cabins again. The green torches of the Hecate Cabin seemed to be burning brighter then usual. He harbored no resentment towards the magic goddess's children, however the goddess herself wouldn't dare show up at camp half-blood he knew that. If she did, no matter if she was a goddess or not, he and Nikki would have died to try and cut her down where she stood. The two would have died trying, which they probably would, Hecate wouldn't let the two get the best of her a second time.

He didn't mind the goddess's children, but whenever he saw the cabin, resentment boiled up in his gut. He gripped the railing on the deck so hard his knuckles began to turn white. He looked over at Jason, who seemed to have a mixture of confusion and worry. Jay sighed, it was good of his new friend to be worried, he appreciated it.

He looked down at the wooden boards of the deck and gathered his breath before looking back up at him.

"Yeah I just… I'm worried about Piper." He said honestly.

His face turned to the valley, and for once Jay could see the worry in his eyes as well. The boy truly had no idea what he was doing there. He tried to rack his brain for anything that could possibly explain the sudden appearance of a demi-god. He spotted the Hecate cabin again and for a split second thought it may have been a trick from the goddess. As revenge for how Nikki and he defeated her, she took away Percy and planted Jason there to kill him.

He shook the thought from his head. Jason had taken a blast of lightning to the chest for him, if his memories were truly gone, he would've died for Jay then and there. As much as he hated to have to compare the two, that was a very Percy like thing for the boy to do.

Jason sighed, "I'm worried about her too, I know I wasn't really there for all the memories she has. I… I feel bad for it. I feel like whenever I try to remember anything my head is about to explode!" He stammered.

"Did Chiron figure anything out?" Jay asked.

Jason shook his head, "He knows something he just won't tell me. When he first saw me, he looked right into my eyes and said, 'You should be dead.'."

Jason went on to explain his conversation with Chiron. Jay was baffled. The old centaur would normally do anything to help a demi-god in need. Why would he be so secretive now? He had to hope perhaps Annabeth could get it out of him.

"That is odd. During my time as a demi-god I've learned that gods and old creatures are normally vague but… Chiron? He's always straight forward with us, why would he keep a secret this big from us?" He asked Jason.

Jason shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know but I… I don't know what it is, I just… don't feel like I should be here."

It was Jay's turn to look puzzled. As far as he knew, camp half-blood and Brooklyn House were the only safe places for children with godly heritage.

"What do you mean, 'don't feel like you should be here?' You're safe here, I promise as long as-."

"That's what I'm trying to say! I… I feel like I'm in danger being here, like I'm about to be jumped at any second. That girl in there… Nikki? She looked like she's wanted to kill me since I got here. I just… really don't feel like I belong." He interjected.

Jay bit his lip nervously and sighed. "Nikki's… been through a lot these last few months don't take it personal. Part of it is my fault… but she's one of the best friends you could ask for. You have nothing to worry about from her." He promised.

Jason studied Jay and seemed to realize his words had deeper meaning in seconds. "Were you two… well you know-."

Jay felt his face go red and quickly nodded his head. "For a bit yeah, but it just didn't work out I just… that story isn't important right now. What is, is getting your memories back. The gods going silent, Percy disappearing and you showing up where Annabeth's message said to go can't be a coincidence!" He said, eager to change the subject.

Jason seemed to understand not to pry which Jay was thankful for.

"But how do we do that?" He asked me.

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm not sure, I've been doing this a long time but, I just can't figure anything out. Hopefully Annabeth can think of something. I just wish my mom would answer my prayers, she's never left me in the dark this long!" He said, letting his anger spill over.

He gripped the railing again. Piper another person who he cared about, was barely breathing, Percy was missing, his mom wasn't answering his prayers, he hadn't seen his sister Alex in months, he hadn't seen Nico D'Angelo since the battle of Manhattan, and worst of all… Bianca was still dead. He lost control for a minute, he whirled around and punched his hand into the side of the big house. The sun was almost set, so little whips of moonlight had curled around his fist and when he pulled his hand back there was a charred fist mark in the wall.

Jason nearly had a heart attack, he leaped back a good five feet. Jay turned and saw how startled he looked.

"I'm sorry," He said pulling back his smoking hand. "I've just got a lot going on…" He said.

Jason seemed to calm down and nodded in understand. "I get it… I'm sorry I've added to your problems." He said with a sincere tone.

Jay shook his head, "No it's not you… listen Jason you saved my life. I owe you for that, I know you feel like you don't belong and feel like your in danger but just know, that I got your back, just like your had mine. I promise that I'm going to help you, we'll get your memories back, we'll find Percy, and when I find out who did this to you both… I'm going to have arrows waiting for them." He said holding out his formerly charred hand.

Jason looked scared for a moment, like Jay's hand would start spinning and explode with moonlight again. He shook his hand though and gave Jay a look of sincere thanks, and for a rare moment in months Jay genuinely smiled.

"Thanks man… so, really no ideas right now?" He asked again.

Jay shook his head. "No… maybe Annabeth has-."

"Why are you being like this!? You've never kept something like this from me!" The two heard.

Jay and Jason turned just in time to see Annabeth storm out of the Big House.

Chiron who was in stallion form sighed and shook his head. For the first time ever, he seemed weary to Jay. It was as if the centuries were finally beginning to weigh on him. He seemed genuinely upset he couldn't help.

"I swore an oath… I'm sorry child." He said before slowly walking back inside.

Annabeth turned to them and had a look of rage on her face Jay had only seen a few times, none of them ended well for her enemies. She ran a hand violently through her blonde locks and locked eyes with Jay. She looked over at Jason, who seemed for a minute. Jay thought that Annabeth might tackle the boy, but she just sighed.

"Jason, do you mind if I talk to Jay alone for a minute? Go wait around the other side of the deck, I think I have an idea to help with your memories." She told him.

Jay knew his new friend wouldn't argue, as he walked around the corner of the deck. When Annabeth turned back, she sighed again, running her hand through her loose blonde hair and ponytail again. Her stormy grey eyes didn't look like they normally did. She seemed so anxious, full of worry and lack of sleep. Jay sighed as well. A lot was going wrong in his life right now, but at least he still had Annabeth.

Whenever someone asked who his best friend was, he always replied 'Percy Jackson' without a second thought. However, if he was being honest with himself Annabeth and Percy shared the top spot. If not for Annabeth saving him at Tranmere Private School all those years ago, he'd surely be dead. If not for all her brilliant plans he and Percy would have died years ago. If not for her figuring out the true meaning of the Grand Prophecy in the _middle_ of the battle with Kronos that past summer, the whole world would be destroyed.

There was a reason Percy and he believed she was the strongest demi-god of this generation. However, she was having a hard time being strong now. He knew in his heart Percy wasn't dead, he couldn't be. However, he remembered what I had felt like when Bianca had to join the Hunters of Artemis, he also still vividly was feeling the ramifications her death. He also remembered how he felt when he knelt over his father's corpse when he was twelve, the anguish and pain of losing the one person he was sure loved him in the world. He remembered holding Zoe Nightshade, his first love's head in his lap as his mother turned her into a constellation. Losing a person, you loved was the worst type of pain, one he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy, not even Hecate. It was powerful enough to drive even the most powerful demi-gods mad.

That was what Annabeth was currently going through.

"Hey," Jay said softly putting a hand on his shoulder. "We _ARE _going to find him, I promise."

_'A lot of good your promises go." _A small voice in the back of his head said.

Jay knew that was true, but he would die before he let this one fail. He was going to find Percy Jackson, he was going to find his best-friend and bring him home, so Annabeth wouldn't be upset anymore.

She took in a deep shaky breath and held her hand on top of her shoulder, gripping it so tight Jay felt it start to lose circulation, but he didn't stop her.

"Jay I… I know what losing Bianca put you through-."

"Annabeth…" Jay said, not wanting to subject brought up.

She stared at him with those intense grey eyes, and he relented.

"I know what losing Bianca put you through… but gods Jay with everything happening, I need you right now. I need you more then I ever have… please." She begged him.

Jay looked perplexed. "Annabeth you have me, I'm here for-."

She shook her head and cut him off again. "No, I need the REAL you Jay. Not what you've been the last few months. I know you've gone through a lot, but Gods Jay I need your help! The gods going silent, Percy missing, Jason showing up you know as well as I do that means something! Something is happening, and it's big, I need you please…" She said, with tears finally falling from her eyes.

He watched as his best-friend Annabeth Chase, the powerful, smart, genius daughter of Athena cried in front of him.

_The real you. _

He knew exactly what she was talking about. Ever since the battle for Olympus and the death of Bianca, Jay had been a changed man. He didn't train for months; he didn't even shoot an arrow until he and his friends rescued Gwen Stacey a few days before he was shipping out to the Wilderness School. He knew deep down in his heart she was right. If they wanted any chance of surviving whatever it was that was too come, he needed to go back to his old self.

It wouldn't be easy; he didn't even know how long it would take but he knew it was true.

It was time for him to be Jason Nicholson again. It was time for him to be the First Son of Artemis again.

He locked eyes with Annabeth and nodded, before pulling her into a hug. She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed while he did the same around her waist. He felt her tears fall onto his neck and shirt. He nodded his head with her still embraced.

"Okay… I promise you have me. We're gonna find him, we will. Now… stop crying! Your getting snot all over me, gods Owl Head I know you need my awesomeness but there's no need to cry!" He said with a smile.

He heard a genuine laugh from Annabeth, and before he knew it for the first time in what felt like forever Jay laughed too.

She pulled back from the hug and kissed his cheek. It was a complete sisterly kiss, but it didn't stop Jay from feeling his face go red.

"Don't get too big of a head too soon silver head but… thank you." She said with a smile.

Jay sighed and nodded back. "I'll always have your back. Whatever happens Annabeth, after we find Percy, I'll always be there for you… always." He told her.

"You're a good friend Jay… probably the best I've ever had." She said trying to casual wipe her nose.

He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder again. "Annabeth, for you and Perce I'd do anything. I'd walk through Tartarus and back, no matter the danger."

She smiled at him. "Well I wouldn't want you in Tartarus! Remember when we went to the underworld? You almost died just from standing there! Then later mommy had to save you from Heracles." She said in a joking tone.

Anyone else who made a joke like that risked an arrow between their eyes but coming from Annabeth it made Jay laugh.

"Haha low blow owl head. I'm serious though… for you guys I'd do anything. To Tartarus and back." He said locking with her grey eyes.

She pulled him into another hug, with her arms around his neck he moved her lips to his ear.

"To Tartarus and back… I love you Jay." She said quietly.

"I love you too…" He said calmly, taking in her fresh lavender scent.

She pulled back and wiped the last tear from her face. Jay clapped his hands together and took in a fresh breath.

"Alright, enough with the mushy stuff, let's get to business! You said you had an idea for Jason's memories, also how's… Piper?" He asked the blonde girl.

She nodded, "She's stable, Nikki and Chiron will take care of her, Rachel's giving them the breakdown. Nikki says she should be back on her feet soon." She started, "As for Jason's memories, I wanted to take him to the Hypnos cabin, I was thinking Clovis may have some ideas to tap into his mind."

Jay nodded his head and also felt a little ashamed of himself that he didn't think of the idea. He brushed it off and realized over the years Percy and he normally left the plans to Annabeth.

"Alright, sounds like a good idea, did you come up with anything else?" He asked her.

She nodded again. "Yeah, I think you should get a hold of Alex. You never know, maybe some of that Egyptian magic could help. Also, she won't admit it to your face but, she really wants to see you."

Jay scoffed and nearly smacked himself. "Ha, I can't believe I didn't think of that, you got a point I'll get into contact with her tonight."

"Good, do you want to come with me? It's almost nightfall we should get this done as soon as possible." She asked him.

He was about to say yes, then remembered Piper laying unconscious in the Big House living room. He bit his lip nervously again.

"I think I'll stay here with Piper; you know give her a familiar face when she wakes up." He said, feeling his body tingle.

Annabeth gave him a knowing look but nodded. "Alright, she should be up in time for the campfire tonight, you and I will meet up and figure out what we can."

"Sounds like a plan, good luck not falling asleep Owl Head." He told her.

She laughed lightly. "And good luck with your 'friend.'." She said to him.

Jay felt his heartbeat faster but shook his head. "You know how it is for me now."

She chuckled and nodded. "I'll see you later Jay." She said, before walking around the corner to find Jason.

A few moments later she saw the two blonde demi-gods walking towards the cabins. He watched Annabeth start explaining things to Jason. It made Jay feel a little better, at least they weren't in the dark anymore. They had a plan, and as soon as they found Percy, they would more then likely figure out what's going on. He felt something begin to well up inside his gut, the feeling of apprehension had frequently been there before a major battle or quest. He knew Annabeth was right, if they were to succeed in whatever was coming, he had to get his head straight.

However, there was also a part of himself that said he shouldn't even bother. He would let them down, just like he did with Bianca in the end.

He sighed and made his way back into the Big House to check on Piper.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

When he got inside, he found only Nikki leaning over Piper. She had her hand extended over the unconscious girl's forehead, a faint golden light emanating from her hand. She was softly chanting words in Ancient Greek, the hym of Apollo. He knew it well, it was how Apollo's children healed the injured, she had used it on Jay multiple times. When he walked in, she stopped chanting, and took in a deep breath before slumping onto her but beside the couch Piper was on.

"How is she?" Jay asked sitting down next to her.

Nikki only met his eye for a moment before checking Piper's temperature again.

"She should be fine in a little bit. Rachel told me what happened… it was kind of unsettling." She said.

"Have you ever heard of a prophecy coming out like that? You probably would know more then most." Jay asked the daughter of the prophecy god.

Nikki twirled her blonde/brown ponytail in her hands. "From what it sounds like? I don't think there was any kind of prophecy in what Rachel said. What did she say exactly? Annabeth told me some, but she was busy arguing with Chiron."

Jay recalled the raspy feminine voice that came from Rachel, telling Piper to free her. How she said if we didn't free her, the earth would swallow us, something about a fiery one being the first, and a king rising. The one line that resonated with Jay however was when the voice said, '_it must be by the solstice' _Jay knew the importance of the Solstice for the gods. It was when they had their annual meeting. To Jay it meant something very simple.

They had a deadline for something.

He relayed what had happened to Nikki. She nodded in understanding, and the fiddling with her ponytail became more aggravated.

She said a few choice words in Ancient Greek that Jay didn't care to repeat.

"That's worrisome. My hunch was right, there was nothing prophetic about what Rachel said, that was a warning," She said standing up and helping Jay to his feet. "Only a few beings could be powerful enough to take control of the Oracle Spirit inside Rachel. I don't think it was my dad, it had to be a goddess."

Jay bit his lip; he had started to think the same thing as she spoke. The last time he had gone on a rescue mission for a goddess he had fought the Titan Atlas to save his mother. Anything that could somehow capture and hold a goddess, scared him.

"So, you think we have a trapped goddess on our hands?" He asked, hoping he was wrong.

Nikki's icy blue eyes met his for the first time he knew that she knew how bad this was as well.

"That's exactly what I'm saying…" She told him.

He sat there staring at her for a moment. He felt his face go hot; he could tell she was waiting for him to say something else. Ever since what had happened a few months ago, this was the first time he had really been with Nikki alone, if you didn't count the unconscious Piper.

He bit his lip so hard he felt the irony taste of blood. "Look Nik I… I think we both know something big is coming."

"What gave it away?" She said sarcastically.

He shook off the jab and tried to formulate words.

"I… I think that if we wanna have any chance of stopping it me and you we need to… um… be on the same page?" He said cautiously.

Out of all his friends, Nikki had the best eye rolls when she was annoyed. So naturally she rolled her eyes at him. "Get to the point Jay, what are you trying to say to me?"

"That I'm sorry for breaking up with you!" He said so quickly he fumbled over the words.

For a second, Jay thought that he was going to be turned into a golden pin cushion. Either that or he would be sliced up like a ham or be burnt to a crisp. Nikki almost ripped her ponytail from her scalp. She turned to the window for a moment and took a deep breath to compose herself. She twiddled with the amulet around her neck, and for a second Jay thought she really was about to bust out her sword Dawn, to cut him in half. However, she took another calming breath and turned back to him. He could see in her eyes she was trying to keep calm.

"So, you think I'm upset with you because… you broke up with me?" She said in a tone of disbelief.

Jay felt a lump form in his throat. "Um, well yes? Kinda, I don't-."

She laughed in disbelief, "Haha, I really thought you were smarter than this Jay! I'm mad at you for even asking me to DATE YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE!" She erupted at him.

"Wha… what are-."

She scoffed and slammed her foot on the ground, "I guess it should be my fault, I should have known! I should have known you weren't ready!"

"What are you talking about not ready!?" Jay spat back, wanting to defend himself, but not make her angrier.

She laughed again. "HA look Jay I KNOW that you loved with Bianca with all your heart I really do! She was my friend too so that's why when I started to develop feelings for you, I kept them smashed away!"

Jay remembered the battle for Olympus, when before the final battle Nikki had revealed her feelings for him. It had caught him so off guard at the time, especially because Bianca arrived an hour or so later.

After she had died, about a month later he remembered what Nikki said. He thought perhaps he… could feel the same way, and maybe being with her would take the pain away from Bianca's death. He didn't tell Nikki that when they started dating, and he regretted it ever since. Finally, around a month later he couldn't stand leading her on anymore. The only thing being romantically involved with Nikki did was make the pain increase. It hadn't been pretty when he did it, he got a vase to the head and Alex had to fix a few statues in Brooklyn House, but Jay knew he deserved it.

"I… I've told you I'm sorry…" He started.

"NO," She cut him off. "You're going to listen to me now! You can't run away from this, you USED me Jay, do you realize that!?" She shouted.

"I didn't mean for it to be like that!" He tried to reason.

She shook her head, Jay looked out the window. He knew the sun should be going down soon, but with every word Nikki said the blow of the sunset glew brighter. He had, had no doubt before she was the most powerful child of Apollo in eons, but this just reinforced it.

She scoffed again. "I don't want to hear that! You knew what you were doing, you told me! I should have known your feelings didn't just go away so soon after she died… you're my best-friend Jay. You saved my life, showed me who I really am, trained me, you always will be my best-friend," She said, she wasn't angry anymore, Jay could see the tears trying to hold in her eyes, "So when you used me like that? It really… REALLY hurt me."

She said turning away from him. She wiped her sleeve to her eyes Jay knew what she was doing. She didn't want him to see her cry.

She turned back to him, "And now, you think I'm mad at you because you broke up with me? What do you think I'm just some girly girl whose, _so upset like her boyfriend broke up with her, I don't wanna talk to hm anymore._" She said doing her best valley girl impression.

Jay almost laughed at the spot-on impression but managed to suppress it. The guilt and shame he felt out-weight any desire to laugh.

She shook her head, the tears threatening to escape again. "I don't care that you broke up with me Jay. If you had just told me 'Nikki I don't think I can feel the same way as you do.' And told me more about the pain you were going through… do you really think I would've been mad?" She asked him.

Jay was flabbergasted. He realized he had been lamenting the loss of so many people and forget to stop and realize who he still had left. Annabeth, Alex, Nikki… he loved them and the rest of his friends with everything he had.

And he had devastated one of them.

"N… no… Nikki, I… I'm so sorry." He finally said, feeling tears well up in his eyes as well.

She looked at him and shook her head. "Like I said Jay… you're my best-friend. I… I forgive you but, it'll be a while before I forget."

Jay nodded and felt like his insides had just been smacked with a sledgehammer. He nodded at her, and she did the same. He wanted to pull her in for a hug but didn't know if it was right for him to do so. He didn't have to decide because Nikki wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. He heard on long shaky sigh and sniffle before she pulled back. She looked him square in the eyes. He thought maybe she was going to say something wise and prophetic.

He was proven wrong when she slapped him across the face as hard as she possibly could.

He got hit so hard he tumbled back into one of Chiron's reclining chairs.

"OWWWWW!" He yelled holding his hand to his now red cheek. "Was that necessary!?" He asked.

She sighed like she was content and nodded. "Absolutely, now come on we need to try and figure out what's going on. I just hope Annabeth can get something out of that Jason kid, something about him is just… off. I can't tell what it is."

Jay after shaking off the initial shock of being slapped, stood up rubbing his cheek. "You don't have to worry about him. He saved my life Nik; I'd be dead if not for him."

She looked at him skeptically. "If you say so to me, he just… doesn't feel right. It's just a really bad feeling that… he's my enemy. I couldn't tell you why." She said leaning down to Piper's side to check her temperature again.

Jay stood there and watched Piper's chest slowly rise and fall. The dark-haired girl snored lightly, and Jay sighed. He just wished that they could get some kind of sign. He felt like in his head he was doing a puzzle. He had a few pieces, Percy disappearing, Jason's arrival, the message to Piper from the voice that took over Rachel, the gods going silent, the feeling Nikki had about Jason. They were all pieces of the puzzle to figure out what was going on. He also felt like to complete the puzzle there were a ton more pieces missing that he didn't have.

_"Jay, Jay, where are you, I need you!" _He heard clear as day in his head.

He turned over to Nikki, "What is it, I'm right here?" He said to her.

Nikki turned and gave him a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?" She asked after feeling Piper's wrist.

"You just said my name? I heard you." He said.

"No, I didn't." She said with a shake of her head.

Jay felt his blood go cold, "Okay, now I'm hearing things, you might need to check me out-."

_"JAY! Please, I can't hold it for long, where are you!?"_ The voice said again, causing him to stiffen.

"Did you hear that!?" He said frantically to Nikki.

Nikki slowly shook her head. "No… are you okay? From my experiences, hearing voices in your head is a bad thing."

Jay shook his head, "I… I feel fine. Are you sure you don't-."

_"Please Jay, we don't have much time, where are you!?" _The voice asked more urgently.

Jay looked out the screen door of the Big House. He saw the cluster of forest that was just outside and turned to Nikki.

"I need to check this out… when Piper wakes up, tell her to wait for me okay?"

"Jay… me and you both know nothing good ever comes from a demi-god following voices in their head." She warned.

Jay paled for a moment, remembering a few years ago when Nico had been lured into the labyrinth by the voice of the Ghost King Minos. The voice now however seemed… desperate, afraid. It couldn't be a monster, they wouldn't get into the camp, it had to be something else, and he wanted to know what it was.

He took in a shaky breath. "Don't worry about me. Look on the bright side, can't worse than Kronos, right?"

"Don't jinx it." She said dryly.

He laughed and little and took off out the door. When he finally got out off the porch of the Big House, he heard it again.

_"Jay please… please come to me! I can't hold it for… much longer!" _It yelled in a pained voice.

It was a girl's voice, that much he could tell. He looked into one direction in the forest and took of into the forest, one of his mother's elements.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

_"I can't hold her back for much longer, you need to find me now!" _It yelled in his ears.

"Where!? Where are you!?" Jay yelled out from atop a branch.

He had gotten into the trees in seconds, he had been climbing them like before he even knew he was a demi-god. It felt so great to be in the forest again. The smell of the pine needles, the soil and mulch, the flowers and trees… it all felt like he was home. He felt at his most powerful in the forest, and at night under the moon. When the two were combined? He felt like he could fight any god, monster or Titan.

However right now, the voice grew more desperate.

_"Here, I'm here! Come to me!" _It shouted again, sounding more pained.

With his increased senses thanks to being in the forest his ears finally perked up. He turned right and leaped from branch to branch on the tree like he was playing those Assassin's creed games he like. He even talked to the Hephaestus cabin about forging him a 'Hidden blade' type weapon, but they weren't going for it.

That wasn't important now.

He leaped from tree to tree until he came to a familiar clearing. A long wall of stone with an old archery target on the ground in-front of it. There were a few discarded arrows tips and shaft along with tons of branches and old leaves. The target had several silver arrows in it, he remembered the place vividly.

It was the last place he had seen his mother all those months ago. After the battle of Olympus, the two of them had shot arrows together here. She had told him how proud she was of him, that she was honored to call him her child. He remembered despite how devastated he was feeling about Bianca when his mother hugged him and he smelled her scent, the scent of pine needles and a warm summer night, he had felt like everything may be okay.

The spot gave him a burst of realization.

He looked around frantically, "MOM!? MOM IS THAT YOU!?" He called out into the trees.

He pressed the wolf's head charm in his bracelet and his bow sprang to life. If that really was his mother's voice, she sounded like she was in danger. He scanned the trees around him, until he heard some rustling bushes between two tall pines, and he twirled around aiming his bow.

"Jay…" A voice said, the same voice.

Out of the bushes stumbled a young girl who couldn't be any older then 12. Her auburn hair was in a frazzled mess cascading down her shoulders. She wore a silver parka and a pair of jeans that had been torn to shreds. When she looked up, Jay saw the gleaming silver eyes of his mother. It was the goddess Artemis, and for the first time ever, and what would probably be the last he saw a look of pure fear on his mother's face. The oddest part however was her face. It kept… shifting vaporizing in and out, taking on a different form, one second it was his mother one second another girl.

"Mom!? What happened to you!?" He said rushing forward.

He took a step before she held up her hand for him to stop. "NO! Jay you must stay back I can't-. UGHHH!" She said clutching at the sides of her head.

This time her whole form flickered. One second he saw his mother, in another second he saw a different 12-year-old girl, one with a hard-sharper face, her gleaming silver eyes full of malice, wearing a… bed sheet? What looked like a bed sheet along with a pair of sandals? Within another second, she was back to the form he recognized.

"Mom what… what's going on with you!?" He asked desperately, terrified seeing his mother in such pain.

She shook her head. "I have very little time Jay, listen and don't interrupt me-UGHH," She said clutching her head and flickering yet again, she locked eyes with him, and Jay saw the desperate fear. "Listen my son, Hera's plan is crazy, but it may be the only way to stop-. UGHHHH!" She said keeling over onto her knees.

Jay couldn't help himself anymore. He tossed his bow aside, knowing it would appear again later. He knelt down next to him mom and tried to help her up, but the goddess shrugged him off and scattered feet away from him again.

"I told you, you must keep your distance! I don't know how much longer- GAHHH!" She yelled again, before stumbling up to her feet. "As I said, Hera's plan is crazy, but it is our only hope now. You will play a major role in what's to come my son!" She said through gritted teeth.

Jay looked at her dumbfounded. He was trying to take in what she was saying, while also worrying about her.

"Mom what, what are you talking about!? Hera, a plan what!? Only hope for what?" He asked her.

She looked up into his silver eyes with her own. "You will succeed Jay… I know you will. Be wary, you… you will be tempted, she will try to-UGHHHH. She will try to consume your mind; she will offer what you want most in the world you, but you must not trust her Jay!" She said stumbling to the ground again.

"What… what are you talking about!? Mom, I need to know more I-." He was cut off by her hand, gently stroking across his face.

"I… I am so, so sorry I've had to be silent these last few months. You've grown so you must find your own path now. You will not- GAHHHH. You will not see me for a while, but know this… Jay, I believe in you and I love you… do NOT give in to the temptation Jay, you mustn't! You must resist- GAHHHHHHHHHHH!" She yelled falling to the ground again.

"MOM! What… what's going on, what temptation, what's coming, what's going on!?" He asked, kneeling down next to her.

Her form began to flicker, Jay reached down to put his hand on her back to help her up. As soon as he reached down however, his mother's hand locked onto his wrist in a death grip.

"AHHHHHH!" He yelled, feeling the blood circulation constrict.

He stumbled onto his knees, as his mother rose onto her feet. She wasn't shaking or gripping her head in pain anymore. She also… wasn't his mother. He looked up into the eyes of the other form that was flickering. This new goddess had her auburn hair tied tightly into a ponytail. He recognized a roman style toga over her body, with a crown of thorns and sticks, she squeezed his wrist and locked her silver eyes onto his. He didn't see love, kindness, or compassion in them like he normally did with his mother. The silver eyes were full of hate and rage.

For the first time ever, Jay's mother terrified him.

"M… mom? What… what's going on, what are you- GAHHHHHH!" He yelled as he felt bones in his wrist crack.

"Don't you _dare!_" She spat.

She lifted him up by the wrist and threw him backwards, he landed with _THUD _into a tree. He reeled in pain grabbing his broken wrist and feeling a new pain spread through his back from the impact. His vision started to go blurry, he tried to blink and clear it and with every blink his mother stepped closer, and closer.

"Mom… mom what are you doing, it's me, Jay!" He said desperately as she stood in-front of him.

"Your son…" He said weakly, trying to gather the strength to stand.

"So…" His mother said in a long drawn out tone, "You are the abomination that she created. I must say, I'm disappointed."

The 'abomination' word cut deep. He gently slid himself back up the tree, but as soon as he stood, he felt his insides churning like a pot of soup.

His mother gave a cold laugh. "You were never supposed to be born; our vow was eternal. I will put an end to this, and end to you-. GAHHHH!" She screamed gripping her head.

Jay back up gripping the tree. For a second his mother stumbled back, and again her form began to flicker. For a few seconds she flicked between her current form, and the girl with a silver parka and jeans again, how she looked when she first arrived.

"NOOO! YOU WILL NOT HARM HIM; I WON'T LET YOU!" She screamed, the girl with the parka yelled.

She doubled over grabbing her head again. "HE WILL DIE! HE IS A STAIN ON OUR LEGACY!" The girl with the toga yelled back.

His mother doubled over again and now the girl in the parka was back. Jay scrambled back and tripped when she looked at him.

"RUN JAY, I CAN'T-UGHHHH HOLD HER BACK, GO NOW!" She yelled, before falling over in pain again.

Jay took one last look at his mother, and with his heart ready to beat out of his chest, he turned and ran. He bounded through the forest, he tried to climb up a tree, but when he went to grip a branch, he broken wrist felt like it was on fire. He keeled over onto his knees again, and as he did, he hear a sound whistling through the air. He turned around just in time to see a silver arrow flying towards him! He ducked and the arrow hit the tree with such force half the shaft was implanted into the wood. He looked up and his mother was rushing towards him again, the form of the girl in the toga leaped through the forest with ease, a large silver bow in her hands. He pressed the wolf charm again and his bow came back to him. He tried to hold it up and pull the string back but as soon as he tried pain shot up his entire arm. His shot went well left and his mom was on him.

She slammed her bow from above and Jay just barely manage to deflect it.

"Come now! I thought you would have some semblance of skill being HER son!" She said as his mom slammed her bow into his stomach.

Right away his intestines churned, and he got sent flying backwards again and slammed into another tree, this time his head slamming into it even harder. He felt the irony taste of blood drip from his nose onto his lips as he laid back against the tree trunk. He felt all his power drained. He didn't know what to do, how could fight back against his mother, he loved her.

She was on him again before he knew it. She stood above him with an arrow knocked and aimed towards him.

"It's time for you to die. This mistake will be- UGHHHHHHHHH NO NOT AGAIN!" She yelled lowering her bow and grabbing for her head.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!" The form of the girl in the parka yelled flickering into the body.

"YOU FILTHY GREEK! HE MUST DIE!" The girl in the toga shouted.

Jay felt all of his energy leaving him. He managed to get to his feet however and lean back against the tree. He had suffered worse injuries and been able to fight on, but this time was different, first off, his power has depleted over the last few months as much as he hated to admit it. Also, he couldn't take his eyes off his mother. He tried to process what was happening, but his vision went blurry again. He saw the two forms of his mother flicker, and for a few seconds the girl in the parka materialized, the original form of his mother he saw.

"Jay! I'm sorry my son, remember what I said! She will tempt you with what you most desire, but you must not give in! You will be what tips the scales in our favor Jay, do NOT let her turn you. I… I love-. GAHHHHH ENOUGH!" She yelled one last time, before a giant blast of silver light burned Jay's eyes.

When the silver light subsided, his mother was gone. A scorch mark was in the spot she had been.

"Tip the scales, what I most desire… what is she-. UGHHH!" He winced feeling a pain shoot through his head as well.

"I need… to get back." He whispered to himself.

He looked up; the moon was slowly rising. He focused the remaining bit of energy he could to figure out where he was. He got the direction of the camp in his mind and started stumbling towards it.

"She will tempt you with what you most desire…" He said lightly to himself.

His vision was getting blurrier and blurrier. His mind was wondering, but he was determined to remember what she had told him.

"Hera's plan… our only hope." He said stumbling forward.

He managed to stop himself from falling and slowly rise again. He saw the light of the dining and the sound of a large horn pierced his ears; it must have been the horn to switch activities. He had to be getting close.

"She will try to consume my mind… what I most desire." He said as he finally saw a large building, a cabin.

He slumped against the building and used it to support himself as he moved forward. He had to keep moving. He had to tell Annabeth and Nikki what happened. He had to keep going, despite the pain through his entire body.

"I will… tip the scales…" He said, with his legs finally giving out.

He felt onto the earth. He felt dirt get into his mouth as he fell right next to the cabin steps. His vision went in and out from black. He turned around to where he lay on his back in front of the cabin steps, he looked back into the forest from where he came, and he was sure he was hallucinating again.

A woman stood between the two cabins. She looked to be attached to the ground, with a black shawl and robes covering her entire body. Her skin was pale but seemed to drip into grains of dirt into the earth. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be asleep, but when she spoke, Jay heard it clearly in his ears.

"Ohhhh my sweet Jason Nicholson… my sweet little pawn. You will serve me, I know it, you will serve a great purpose for my plans. You will tip the scales in _my _favor… Hahahaha." She laughed gently.

Jay squinted to try and see her closer, but after a few blinks she shrunk more and more into grains of dirt.

"Who… who are you? What… what's going on…?" He asked desperately. All he wanted at that moment was answers, he didn't care about his injuries, he had just almost died at his own mothers' hands, what was happening?

"Jay!? Oh, my gods!" He heard another voice say.

The moon was starting to come up, but from the sunset that was left, he saw two heads of blonde hair come into his view as he looked up. He noticed the stormy grey eyes of Annabeth and saw Jason across from her. Jay almost laughed at the stroke of luck, he must have come stumbled right to the Hypnos Cabin.

"Jay what… what happened to you!?" Annabeth frantically asked, ripping off a piece of her camp t-shirt and wiping the blood from my nose.

Jay was still looking at the spot the dirt lady stood, and then finally to Annabeth. "Annabeth my… my mom… Hera… plan… tip the scales…." He said, before the blackness finally clouded his vision.

"MEDIC, WILL, SOMEBODY WE NEED TO MOVE-." Annabeth's screaming was the last thing he heard before he finally passed out.

**A/N: Hey everyone! Yes, it is an update your eyes do not deceive you xD I have run into a major work load at school, I am in one of my last few years of college, so the work load is piling up. I promise I'll have these out as quick as I can, it won't be a month long wait again I hope, they should come faster but I can't promise once every week or so anymore unfortunately : ( **

**However I am going to keep this story going I promise, just be patient with me haha. **

**So some MAJOR stuff happened this chapter, Jay finally hashed things out with Nikki, he had this encounter with his mom, and most importantly Gea for the first time! Please guys leave a review of what you think will happen an what you liked! I love all reviews but seeing decent length detailed ones no joke always make an author wanna write faster xD**

**My final announcement for you all is VERY important!**

**If any of you reading have a Twitter account I am BEGGING you, go visit the twitter page for The Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Musical! That would be LTMusical they have a tweet on there that if it gets 75k likes there can be a possible PERCY JACKSON TV SHOW WRITTEN AND CREATED!**

**Now I know what you're thinking 'How do we know it's real'. Well for context Rick Riordan himself has voiced his support for the musical, and with the new Disney+ streaming service coming, a PJO Tv show could be something they put on there! The Lightning Thief Musical is a very loyal adaptation and have connections with Disney and Rick himself!**

**Also in the end why the heck not!? All you gotta do it like the tweet they have for the TV show, and you can possibly have our favorite series turned into a TV show it only takes seconds! **

**Again go to LTMusical or search #PJOTvShow **

**Please go do this if you can guys, this is our best chance at a loyal adaptation!**

**Okay that promotion is over xD I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I am REALLY looking forward to bringing you guys the next one! See you next time!**


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